The Frozen Heart

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He was....kind of right. They didn't know until they tried. And yet, why was she so scared? Scared to have hope that she might possibly be able to get her sister back? Perhaps it was the fear that she would get her hopes up and convince herself she could, only to find out her sister couldn't be revived. What would it feel like if int he end they couldn't save her? Would it be like loosing Anna all over again? What if the trolls refused to help them because of who she was? After all, didn't everyone hate and fear her by now? And what would happen if Anna woke up? Would Anna blame her and hate her? What about everyone else who would be unfrozen as well? Surely they would want to harm her for everything she had done. There were so many things to think about here. So many things to fear and worry about. She could feel the temperature began to drop again just like it had done the day before and her hands trembled slightly.

That was, until she felt him take her hand. Even it was to just drag her out of the room it still felt nice and comforted her slightly. She couldn't keep thinking of such things. She would make the weather too bad for travel if that happened. For now, she just had to think that she could neither hope for the best or think the worst. Just....go along with the ride. That's all she could do and help out where she could. Looking up at him, she frowned, "I...I've never actually dissolved them before. I mean, they have been destroyed in battle and such, but as far as putting an end to them using my magic I've never tried." She said, pursing her lips in thought, "But I suppose they should listen if I tell them you're not a threat."

She carefully opened the door and sure enough as they made it down the stairs, in the hallways were a few of the golems. Most of them turned their attentions to she and Marensius and many noticed the way he had her hand. Some roared threateningly and a few even moved forward as if to come at them. Elsa though moved in front of him, shaking her head, "Stop." Even with how calmly she stated this, they all listened, stopping their advances and standing up straight, "Prince Marensius is hereby cleared of all charges against the kingdom of Arendelle and its queen. You are not allowed to harm him from this point forward." The things didn't seem too happy about the orders but begrudgingly obeyed, stepping to the sides to give passage to the two of them.

Taking a deep breath, her shaky hand still in his, she looked over at him and nodded slowly,

"Lets go save my sister."
 
Marensius nodded at Elsa's words, glad that the ice golems had been stopped in their tracks. The fact that he had been cleared of all charges only made things better, knowing he was now able to come and go as he pleased. "Alright, come on! We can go see your sister later, we need to find the Trolls first. They live in the forests to the North, close to the mountain. If we leave now we can probably reach them by nightfall and be back before sun's first light tomorrow! Maybe they'll even know of a way to help control your powers" he explained, leading her by the hand towards the front doors of the castle. As he pushed through the gates, the townspeople seemed shocked, not only to see the Queen out in public, but also to see her holding hands with the young Prince. Clearing the air, Marensius rolled his eyes and said "Think nothing of it, Arendellians. Queen Elsa's got an important issue to see to so I'm going to make this quick. Bottom line, some stuff happened and things got nuts, but I can assure you that things will pick up. We've just learned of a development that could very well lead to a better future for all, so please stand by and we'll get back to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, continue to live as you have. But not in fear, rejoice. Try to smile. Queen's orders." he exclaimed, smiling playfully before he dragged Elsa away towards the outskirts of the castle where he had left his horse. Quickly climbing on top of the animal, Marensius helped Elsa on top of the steed, wrapping her hands around his waist so she wouldn't fall off. "Hold on tight, Elsa. It's going to be a long journey, but I'll do my best to ride as fast as I can." he explained, smiling sweetly at her. Kissing her lips once more before he hauled on the reins, Marenisus guided the horse out of the city as quickly as he could. From there, they continue to ride North, silently waiting as the snow naturally fell around them.
 
Being lead outside of the castle, it was clear that people in the town were very confused and shocked to not only see her outside of her castle, but holding the hand of Marensius. She took a deep breath and had been about to just walk on with him without saying a word when he spoke up to the townspeople. Even though he spoke to them, telling them to just go on as they were and not fear. They all still seemed confused by this all but no one stopped them as they made their way to the outskirts. Once they were there, there was a horse waiting for them. Ah, so that was how he had gotten back here so quickly. He was a very sneaky and sly prince after all.

She let him climb up first and then she herself did the same, climbing up onto the horse with his help, him wrapping her arms round his waist from behind so that she wouldn't fall off when they would finally get riding toward the north forests. Before they took off though, his lips pressed against hers again in another surprise kiss and once again she wasn't sure how to react to it, the air around them growing colder once more and snow falling a little more as well as they made their way from the city. Just...what was it she felt for Marensius? It was painfully obvious that he loved her. But...did she love him? Was it even possible for someone like her to love anybody? Even if there wasn't her curse, there was still her heartbreak over the prince that had betrayed her. She wasn't as trusting anymore because of that. Wasn't as easy to fall in love.

Because of that now, very time he pressed those soft lips against hers she could feel nothing but confusion. A mix of emotions she couldn't quick sort through. She like the feeling of his lips against her and in a way it was somewhat comforting. But then again, it was also scary. And embarrassing. And surprising. It also made her angry that she didn't know how to react to it. Made her scared that something would go wrong and she would hurt him when he surprised her by kissing her. So many things that she just wasn't sure what to feel at all. And so, as they road along, she was silent, her heart racing once more and the palms of her hands colder than normal as she muddled through these thoughts, resting there against his back as she did.
 
Marensius continued urging the horse towards its ultimate destination, speedily galloping along the snowy landscape surrounding Arendelle. At the speed they were going, it wouldn't take long before they reached the troll's home. But as they continued to ride, Marensius felt the slightly cold sensation growing against his waist. She was thinking and whatever her thoughts were, they were making her nervous. Perhaps she was finally reflecting on the possibility of being with him. Even though it seemed as if she hadn't considered it, even when he left her the note, he could tell it was something that preoccupied her thoughts quite a bit. Every time he kissed her, she went numb and her emotions went wild. But weblog that emotion was the key to controlling her powers, seeing as how she could be stuck with them for a while. Her abilities had really only been influenced by anger and fear at this point, but he wondered what kind of possibilities she could achieve by allowing herself to feel joy again. Or love. Not that she didn't still feel love.

Anna was something that bothered Elsa all the more, and Marensius could easily tell. After all, he worried about the young princess just as much as her sister did. They were the only family he had left and even though she was gone from his life, there was the possibility that after consulting with the trolls, Anna could be revived. But there was also the chance that she was long gone. He couldn't think about that possibility, especially not with Elsa around. It would crush his beloved even more if she knew there was no chance to save the one person who mattered most of all after nearly three years of regret and sorrow.

Her icy grip tightened around his waist, but he didn't let the cold bother him. Marensius could feel her heart rapidly pounding against his back, but he enjoyed the sensation. It was soothing, comforting even. But then she nuzzled her face gently into his shoulder blade, shyly seeking comfort while her mind raced. Keeping one hand on the reins, Marensius gently moved his other hand to hers, covering the ice-cold skin with the palm of his warm hand, his fingers threading through hers. They continued to ride for another half hour, watching as the sun went down over the horizon before they finally approached the woods where the trolls lived. Slowing down his horse, Marensius and Elsa proceeded into the forest. The young prince kept an eye out for any signs of life, trying to determine if the trolls were going to come out before they reached the central area.

With an uneventful journey, Marensius signed a breath of relief when they finally reached the open area he had encountered the trolls in previously. "Here we are..." he whispered, slowly dismounting the horse before helping Elsa down, his hands placed firmly on her waist. When she was on the ground again, Marensius' embrace did not end for another few seconds. He couldn't help but stare into her eyes, relishing in the fact that he was so close to the woman he loved. His heart ached for more, but he wouldn't dare do something more without Elsa's permission. The kisses had slipped out more or less by accident, but he would not dare to push further unless she was consenting.

Reluctantly letting go, Marensius backed up and looked around them. "Keep an eye out... They should know we're here by now. They can disguise themselves as rocks, so look for anything that has a particular type of moss growing on it. The moss itself is very green, so it'll be easy to spot."
 
As Elsa sat there behind him, her arms wrapped around him and face against his back, when she felt his warm hand grip hers firmly yet gently, his fingers threading through hers in a comforting manner. Slowly she lifted her face from his back, as if to look and see if he would look back at her, but he didn't. After all, couldn't have him get distracted from his steering the horse in the right direction. And so, she didn't say anything and merely sat there, his hand warming hers, making her feel relaxed and slightly wondering how he was even comfortable holding her hand seeing as it was freezing cold. Perhaps one thing to do when they did get back to the castle was dig out a pair of her old gloves, to give him some protection from the cold that was her when he did do such things as hold her hand as he was doing now.

Soon, as they made their way into the forests, the horse began to slow and Elsa's wary eyes darted about. Would the trolls show themselves? Would they react badly when they caught sight of the wicked queen that was her? Could they place a curse on her like that evil witch had done? What if they refused to help them because of her? She swallowed, her grip tightening around Marensius' waist ever so slightly at those thoughts until he pulled the horse to a stop and climbed off of the horse. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and nodded to him, allowing him to help her down, his hands going to slender waist to do so.

There was something there though that passed between them in the next few seconds. With this hands on her waist, she was lifted off of the horse and placed gently onto the ground and once her feet were on the grass, her eyes moved to meet his the two staring at each other. There was something in his eyes, a sort of longing look, that made her heart begin to race once more, the grass below her feet momentarily frosting over. No one, not even the prince she had fallen in love with so long ago, had ever given her a look of such need as Marensius was giving her in that moment.

And yet, much to her surprise, he did nothing. She had been expecting him to do something, to kiss her in the least like he had all those others times before, yet he just backed away and told her to keep an eye out for the trolls and what to look for. Taking a slightly shaky breath, Elsa nodded once again and began looking about, "Rocks and moss...got it." And with that, the two went on searching, moving through the snow covered trees, the snowflakes fluttering softly through the air and sticking to her blonde hair and dark eye lashes.

Then, she was so sure she spotted one. A somewhat large rock with a very green moss growing on it. Carefully, Elsa crept forward, very hesitant and unsure what to do when she did see it. Finally a shaky hand reached out to tap it, only to jump back with a yelp as it hopped and unrolled into a small creature, the thing looking up at her with big eyes of shock as others rolled over and did the same, looking at her with a large amount of surprise, the first one speaking, "It's the Queen..."

Elsa took a few steps back of worry as what seemed to be the elder of them all made his way through the crowd, looking at the queen and Marensius, speaking, "Marensius, what brings you so far into the forest? And why have you brought Queen Elsa so far from her Castle?"
 
"Pabbie," began Marensius as he bowed his head to the leader of the trolls, "The answer to both of your questions lies within the Queen's heart. For almost three years now, Elsa has been using a false persona to cover up how she feels inside. That treacherous prince from the North made sure she was punished for a crime she never committed, and I wish with all of my being that his misuse of magic comes back to haunt him in the end... But that is not my point. My point is, Queen Elsa has been cursed to wield powers over ice and snow, unable to control her emotions without causing a blizzard to erupt around her. In one of her bouts of emotion, she accidentally impaled her sister, Anna, and-"

Raising a hand to stop the young prince, Pabbie sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before he spoke again. "Yes, we know this already. We may not be psychic but we most certainly knew of the day the 'Ice Queen' rose to power. But we did not believe for a second that it was true. The Elsa that our people knew was kind and honest. Not cruel and cold-hearted. That doesn't sound like the woman you spoke about, nor does it match the forest's description."

"But that is my next point, Pabbie." Marensius interrupted, turning his head towards Elsa quickly to explain something. "Before you ask, know of you because they can communicate with the land around us. It's a long and complex concept that Pabbie explained to me once, but essentially the forest speaks to them, relaying news of the outside world. That's how they know how to hide whenever visitors come." he whispered rather quickly before turning back to the Trolls, kneeling down so he could be fade to face with their leader.

"But, there is a catch: Elsa, confused and frightened by what she had done to Anna, froze the Princess in a block of her magic ice. Preserving her body to this very day... That is why I have come, Pabbie. I need you to answer four questions for me, and I need you to be as clear as possible with them." he said, staring at the Troll with a serious expression. Nodding silently, Pabbie allowed Marenisus to continue.

"Question One... Can you determine if the Princess is still alive?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, the crystal around Pabbie's neck began to pulsate with a yellow energy, as did the rest of the trolls. Together, the lights of their crystals shines like the aurora borealis. When the pulsating lights faded, Pabbie opened his eyes and said "Yes. Anna Patronia is still alive. She has been for the past few years, stuck in a state of stasis, meaning she cannot feel pain or be conscious of her current condition. She still believes it is the day of the coronation."

Sighing a happy breath of relief, Marensius looked at Elsa with hope in his eyes. Turning back to Pabbie, he continued his questions. "You know that Anna is severely injured, she has an ice shard in her heart. Can you heal her as you healed me?"

Pabbie nodded once more. "Yes, we can heal her. Although it will take a strong amount of magic and a long time, we can safely remove the shard and patch up her heart, just as we fixed you. She is in a similar state, close to death, but her current frozen status means she cannot feel it or even lose blood. Most likely, she has regained all of the lost blood from the night of the coronation. But the procedure must happen before she is thawed, otherwise she will most surely perish. If you can bring her here, we can achieve the healing process within a day, but elsewhere it will take longer as our powers stem from the forest."

"Alright, noted. We'll bring her here as soon as we can... How do we unthaw her, though? And how do we get rid of Elsa's curse?"

At this question, Pabbie sighed. "That, my boy, is where I cannot help you." the troll said in a saddened voice. "There is only one way to reverse the curse: an act of true love. When the witch cast the curse, she knew that Elsa would be cold to the touch and dangerous. The price had broken her heart, making the Queen vulnerable, and to top it off, she accidentally attacked Anna as you've mentioned... But the witch didn't predict this, which only made things better. Since she has been in an emotionally distraught state these past three years, Queen Elsa has not been able control her powers. She lacks control over herself." explained the Troll, turning to look at the Queen before walking past Marensius.

Taking her hand delicately in his, Pabbie ushered her down on her knees so he could speak directly to her. "This curse feeds off all the negative emotions you possess. Hatred towards the Prince who broke your heart, Worry over your sister's well-being, and now, Misery because you realize something deep in your heart exists that you did not believe so long ago... Something you always thought was the opposite of how you feel." he said, his eyes glancing towards Marensius' general direction, keeping his face turned to hers, before he continued. "But you need to learn to let go of all those emotions, they only strengthen the power of the curse. You must control them and believe in the good you still possess. Think of love: the love for your people, the love for your sister... The love you still desire to share with the one you are meant to be with. That is how you will reverse your curse: an act of True Love. Unbridled, passionate, and true to every last breath. Once you know what it means, you will find the curse has lifted over yourself."

Taking a breath, Pabbie cleared his throat and continued to speak. "But in the case of freeing your people and your sister, that will take much more. The people you have frozen can be thawed easily, you have the power to do so. Focus on your positive emotions and use them as a guide. The heat of your emotions will thaw those who you have frozen... But not Anna. You love her too much, you care for her too much. But that is not enough. In order to free her from her prison, you must also provide her with an act of true love, unbridled and just. Because you are so strongly involved both emotionally and physically with the Princess, the ice which holds her is stronger and thicker. It needs more then good feelings to melt it. It needs you to prove just how much you truly care for your sister, how you'd be willing to do anything to keep her safe... Only then, can you free her."

Stepping back from the Queen, Pabbie dangled two of his fingers below his waist, calling his trolls to do something. All of a sudden, a tower of three trolls stacked on top of one another popped up from behind both Marensius and Elsa, pulling them playfully to their feet and pushing them together so that they embraced like how two lovers would upon the dance floor. "But, to start with freeing yourself, you must look to others. Why, our young man here is a strapping lad who, from what he's told us, would do anything to save his beloved. He would even die for such a woman... I think that at least earns him a dance of appreciation, don't you your highness?" Pabbie said, his voice now more cheerful and playful then before. Just as he finished speaking, the trolls all began to stomp their feet and hum in a slow rhythm. A few of the trolls used items from the forest to create a wave of musical notes, stroking the stems of flowers like they were strings of a violin and banging on rocks lightly to emulate a slow drumbeat. The forest seemed to glow in response to this music, illuminating the two young people in a way that only magic could.

Looking deep into her eyes, Marensius was clearly nervous: an emotion she had not seen him possess since they were reunited. His heart pounded rapidly against his chest, resounding against her own. Their hearts seemed to beat in unison to a rapid rhythm as they stared into each others eyes. Noticing that her hands were getting cold, Pabbie called out "Focus on the positive emotion! Don't let the nerves control your powers! Think of the comfort! Think of the love!"
 
So, the trolls knew everything that had happened so far in the kingdom? The knew of the day everything had turned bad and of her impelling her sister with an ice spike. But, how was that possible if these trolls never leave the forest? How did they know so much? But then, Marensius explained to her in a quiet and quick whisper that they communicated with the land around them and of how the forest spoke to them. She had never heard of such a thing before, but then again, with all the magic in their world, should she have been surprised? Probably not, and yet she couldn't help but be just a little bit, especially as even stranger things started to happen.

Marensius asked the question of her sister still being alive and worry spread all over her face as the trolls closed their eyes and began to hone in one some sort of power, their crystals lighting up. It was for sure strange to see, but if it got them the answers they needed then she didn't care. A little bit of relief washed over her at the news that her sister was not dead. Her sister alive, just in some sort of hibernation. They just had to bring her here and then...find a way to unfreeze her. She frowned deeply as the leader fo the trolls continued to speak. The only way to reverse all this, Anna's freezing, as well as to get rid of her own curse, was an act of true love. But....that was a lot harder than it sounded. How was she supposed to prove her love for Anna? How was she supposed to show an act of true love that would break her curse?

She watched as Pabbie walked past Marensius and over to her, taking her hand and ushering her to sit on her knees. Elsa obeyed silently, kneeling there as the troll talked to her. He was right. There was still so much that had reins on her life and her emotions. The betrayal of the man she had loved. Her harming her sister. He was saying she needed to learn to let go of all those negative emotions to make way for better and more joyous emotions. To make way for as he said ; 'an act of True Love. Unbridled, passionate, and true to every last breath'. Was she even capable of such a feeling as strong as that? It had been shown so far how she reacted to strong emotions. What if her emotions got too strong and something went wrong? What if she only made things worse?

But, either way, they had to try. They had to bring Anna here. Then could they heal her so that they could bring her back to the castle and figure out how to thaw her. She looked at the troll as he stepped back from her and was talking again, only to gasp and watch in surprise as she was pulled to her feet and shoved against Marensius, her hands against his chest and his on her waist. She blinked up at him for a moment, feeling her heart speed up in her chest as the trolls began to play and hum music. They wanted the two of them to dance? Elsa had never been...fond of dancing. Even before her curse, she used to comment how she was too clumsy to dance. yet, their music played and she looked back up to him, feeling his heart pound against her own as her hands moved up to rest on his shoulders and they began to slowly move, dancing. He looked just as nervous as she did and she could feel her hands growing colder with her nervousness. Pabbie called out to her and she closed her eyes, slowly nodding and taking a deep breath. Focus. Positive. Comfort. Love.

Well...Anna was alive...that was positive, right? And comfort? Being held against Marensius with their hearts beating as one was, as much as she wouldn't admit it, comforting to her. And love....love....she loved her sister, but what if her sister ended up hating her for what she had done? For impelling her and freezing her? And what of Marensius? Did she love him? How would she knew if she did or not? Did she even know what being in love felt like? That prince had messed her up so much that she wasn't sure about anything dealing with love any more.

With the positive and the comfort, she was able to keep herself from freezing something other, but it didn't fix the fact that her body was still cold to the touch. She took a shaky breath and looked up to him, wondering if she would ever know what love truly meant to her.
 
Marensius, slowly moving with the rhythm of the music, looked deep into Elsa's terrified eyes. He could feel the beating of their unified hearts and it made him rather nervous. He had wanted this moment for years, but it seemed like the timing was off. Elsa was still dealing with too many things and, despite Pabbie's intentions, Marenisus felt a little uncomfortable in the current situation. But, he knew he had to be strong. For Elsa. Leaning in close, Marenisus gently leaned his head against her shoulder. "Hey... This is nice, isn't it?" he said, whispering softly into her ear. "Just... Um... You know, I don't know what to say..."

Pulling away from the hug, Marensius looked at Elsa and let out a deep sigh. He looked into her eyes, searching for the words he so desperately wanted to speak. But he couldn't manage to say anything. Instead, he lightly kissed her forehead and stroked a stray piece of hair away from her face. Soon after the music ended, Marensius let go of Elsa and gently bowed his head to the Queen. "Thank you for the dance, Elsa." thanked Marensius. Surprisingly, this had been the noblest Marenisus had been in the past few years. Ever since he was stripped of his royal position, Marensius had been more or less a roguish figure wandering around the world with a nearly impossible goal. But now... This was the first time he actually felt like a prince again.

Turning around as an odd silence fell over himself and Elsa, Marenisus noticed that all of the trolls had disappeared seemingly into thin air. Taking a minute to contemplate things, Marenisus turned back to Elsa and released her waist. Then, he guided her back to their horse and heaved her onto it. "Alright, well... *ahem* We have a few things we need to deal with. Number one: bring Anna here so we can heal her. Number two: finding out how to thaw Anna with an act of true love. Number three: helping you either control or get rid of your powers, again with an expression of true love... Wonder what that has to do with the curse. Maybe it has something to do with the witch that cast the spell..."
 
It seemed like Marensius was just as flustered as she was about all of this. Both of them were unsure of what to say as they slowly danced with one another, and even as Marensius leaned his head softly against her shoulder to whisper into her ear, he couldn't think of something to really say. It was...kind of nice. But at the same time, she had her mind on so much. So many things to worry about and get through. A dance wasn't exactly the best hing for her at the moment, even if it did feel kind of nice. Marensius pulled away from holding her so close and she watched as he gently kissed her forehead and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. It wasn't the first time a man had done something like that, kissing her forehead and brushing strands fo her hair back from her face. But it certainly was the most intimate time it had happened.

She remembered, thinking back to her time with the prince, how he would act so kind to her and do things like this. Yet, at the same time, when he would do these things, there was always a sort of detached look in his eyes. One that said he had only been doing those things to make her happy. Which, she supposed was okay....but comparing it now to the look Marensius was giving her; a look that said he wanted to do these things. Not just to make her happy, but because he actually himself craved touching her. If she could get warm enough to blush, her cheeks would have been a bright red color by now. But instead, all she could do was stare up at him as the music ended and he let her go to bow slightly to her and thank her for the dance. She in turn did the same, giving a small curtsy before standing up straight and looking around to see that the trolls were gone.

Walking with him back tot he horse, she allowed herself to be lifted onto the horse and looked down at him as he spoke, saying all that they needed to do, as well as questioning what 'true love' had to do with the curse. Elsa gave a small shrug, wondering the same thing herself, "I'm not sure. I always assumed it was because the man I used to love was the one that had the curse put on me. Him thinking I would never be able to love again and so would never be able to break the curse. But, then again, I guess we'll never truly know why true love is needed to get rid of this curse." She looked down at him and gave a soft sigh, "Come on, let's go get Anna so we can get her back here as soon as possible."
 
While Marensius didn't exactly understand the true love aspect to freeing Elsa from her curse, he certainly felt that it might be easier to achieve then she believed. Perhaps it was simply the emotions hidden deep within her heart for her sister; the sweet tender thoughts that swept through her mind like a coursing river. Gently patting her hand when Elsa requested that they leave quickly to return Anna as soon as possible, Marensius nodded and climbed onto the mare. Tugging on its reins, Marensius turned the animals back towards the south and forced it to run, encouraging it to race back to the castle with haste. The sky was dark and filled with stars while the colourful aurora borealis danced through the air. Staring up at the sky from time to time as they travelled, Marensius wondered if the trolls were trying to suggest that Marensius was Elsa's true love, just as the young prince believed she was his own. The dance, the song... Granted, they weren't exactly good with conveying their exact thoughts, but Marensius knew that they were more eccentric then most others.

Occasionally looking back at Elsa as they rode, Marensius smiled and nodded at the Ice Queen. "We've still got about an hour's ride... Elsa, might I ask you something?" he explained, shouting over the wind as they sped through the land of Arendelle. "What do you think of me? Truly. Just a week ago you thought I was trying to usurp you, when we were children I was a friend, but now I don't think I can get a grasp on what you believe. I've told you how I feel before, that's no secret between us. I'm just... Curious, to say the least."
 
As they rode bakc toward Arendelle, Elsa was silent, her cold arms wrapped around Marensius to keep from falling off of the horse as they went along. They were going fast, which was good she supposed. She wanted to get to her sister as soon as possible, so as to bring the girl back to the trolls and have her wound healed. She had assumed, with the wind rushing past them making it hard to hear, that Marensius wouldn't try to speak to her during this time. Yet, he was always such a talkative boy so she supposed she should have known better than to assume such a thing. When he finally did speak to her above the roar of the wind moving past them, she looked up and met his gaze for a moment with her ice blue eyes before looking away once again in thought. What...did she think about Marensius? He was an old childhood friend. One who had always been there for her, even now. And one who had loved her unconditionally, despite all she had done. He thought so much of her, and yet...she wasn't at all sure what she thought of him. It was such a difficult question for someone like her to answer.

"I....I don't know." She answered truthfully, letting out a sigh and resting her forehead against the top of his shoulder, "I....feel so screwed up, Marensius. I don't know how to feel...or what to feel...I thought I did, years ago...thought I had everything so figured out, that I knew what happiness was....what love was...now I have no idea. And because of that, I don't know how I feel toward you."
 
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(Changing Marensius' appearance. Don't really like the old one as much anymore).

Marensius, while glad that he was able to hear her response over the roar of the wind, did not exactly find the answer to his question suitable. Elsa seemed to beat around the bush a bit by not completely explaining what she thought of him, but Marensius knew in the back of his mind that she was telling the truth. He hadn't really even thought of the past up until that point, but when the young prince reminded himself of her struggles, Marensius knew he couldn't say anything to change her mind immediately. "Well... Okay then." he stated, nodding his head almost as if to reassure himself that there was a better answer waiting to come out. She was conflicted, it was understandable. But Marensius prayed that, rather sooner then later, Elsa would realize what she could have with him. For the time being however, the young prince merely enjoyed the feeling of her head resting against his shoulder.

It took them another hour to reach Arendelle, all of which Marensius had remained relatively silent. Aside from the occasional check-up to verify she wasn't getting hurt as a result of riding on a horse in a fancy dress, of course. But as they neared the gates of the frozen capital, Marensius and the Queen were met with strange gazes from the townspeople. Whispers began to erupt as they walked by, their horse too tired from the journey to run anymore.

"What's the Queen doing with the Rebel Prince?"

"It's the Ice Queen! Who's that with her?"

"Probably just get back from stealing another land."

"It's Prince Marensius! I thought he was dead!"

"Is she blushing?"

Despite all of the things that the people said, Marensius felt the mood of the castle town had shifted considerably since they had left. While some people still gave Elsa the stink eye and bowed to her out of fear, Marensius felt that seeing her with a former friend in such a compromising position might've helped improve her image. That was something they had to work on after bringing back Anna; getting Elsa's life back in order. Marensius cast a careful look back at Elsa to make sure she was okay, his eyes begging her not to do anything rash or let her emotions get out of control. Eventually the guards showed up, menacingly demanding that the citizens back away from the Queen. Marensius cast a scowl to the guard captain as his men poked the air with their pikes, telling the citizens to back off. "For God's sake, they're your people! Treat them with respect, captain! Queen's orders!" demanded the Prince. The guard captain turned to him, about to say something, before he shut his mouth. "Mph.." grunted the guard, turning around to face the crowd once more. This time around, he asked the townspeople politely to 'please let the Queen be'.

"Sorry about that, I know I shouldn't make decisions for your kingdom." Marensius apologized, looking back at Elsa with a sigh. "But that's one more thing we need to figure out as well. Well... By 'we' I mean you. This is your kingdom after all, Elsa... But if you'll allow me to offer my advice on the subject, I think the most important thing to do once we save Anna is to set things right in Arendelle, starting with your image. We both know you're not 'the Ice Queen', but the people need to see it... But, that's all I'll say on the matter. I've had enough of politics for one lifetime, and I don't think I'd want to get into it again."

Once they reached the castle stables, Marensius helped Elsa down off of the horse again and turned to her. "Now's the part where we hope things work in our favour... Lead the way. You're the only person who knows where she is..."
 
As they entered Arendelle, quickly the citizens began to stare and whispers began to murmur among the people, all confused and shocked to find her riding on a horse and so close to a young man that had once been a very close friend of she and Anna. One whom most people would have thought would have died long ago, if not from being killed by the Ice Queen herself, found and killed for the rumors of treason within his own kingdom of the death of his father. Either way, it was quite the shock to see him alive and see the queen going with him to the castle. Hearing their whispers were making her nervous and she could feel her hands grow a bit colder as they rested on Marensius's shoulders. Her eyes met his though as he looked back at her with pleading eyes that begged her to stay calm in this situation. There was fear in her own gaze at all this, but she took a calming breath and willed herself to not do anything rash despite how she felt.

Very soon though, the captain of the guard was having his men threateningly forcing the people back as the horse walked on. She was hesitant to say something of this. After all, with how cruel she had been to the people in the past few years, if she showed any softness now, woudl the people take that as an opportunity to come after her and do her in? She pondered this for just a moment, but before she could even think on this, she heard Marensius speak up, telling the captain to show respect to the people under the queen's orders. She looked to him, a little surprised but then they were within the castle walls, away from the crowd and being helped off of the horse. She looked up to him as he spoke to her, saying they would have to fix her image here in the kingdom. Well, hopefully once Anna was freed, maybe that would be a start. And maybe, after they figured out how to free Anna, she could figure out how to unfreeze everyone else. Hopefully.

But right now, they needed to worry about getting the frozen girl to the trolls so she could be healed. The halls were fairly empty aside from a servant here or there as they made their way to the ball room and stood outside its door, looking at the heavy lock, before glancing back at Marensius, "This lock has no key. I never had one made that would fit." She explained then placed her hand on the lock, pulling out from it, a perfectly shaped key of ice forming from inside the lock, "I didn't want anyone being able to get in here but me." With that, she took the end of the ice key and turned in, letting the heavy metal lock and chains clang to the floor as she took the ice key from the lock before she turned to him, placing the key in his hand, "Just in case we have to lock this door again in the future. Keep it safe." With that, she turned to the door and took a deep breath, placing her hands on the handles.

She was very hesitant to open the doors. She hadn't been in this place since the accident. It was filled with horrible memories that she didn't want to remember. But, she had to do this. If she wanted her sister back, she had to go in. Letting out her shaky breath, she pushed the door open, revealing the icy room to the two of them.
 
Marensius quickly followed behind her as they walked through the hallway, headed for the ballroom. When they arrived, the former prince watched as Elsa produced a key made entirely of an ice, which opened a similarly crafted lock that apparently had been placed there years ago. Marensius looked up at the Queen when she handed him the key. Gently gripping it, Marensius nodded at her before following the Queen into the abandoned Ballroom. A thick layer of ice coated the walls and floor of the dimly lit room and each footstep the duo took echoed against the walls as they moved closer to the furthest wall in the room. Laying against the wall was a massive spire resembling that of a large spiderweb with extensions that branched out to almost every surface in the room. At the centre of the gargantuan structure, rested the lifeless form of the Princess, her body held upright by a series of ice-trails gripping her limbs, attached to the walls. Slowly, Marensius' stride slowed down as they finally came to the frozen paralyzed body of Anna.

"Wow..." Marensius muttered, completely lost for words. "I-It's been so long... I had forgotten what she looked like..." Turning his head to face Elsa, Marensius gently placed a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Hey... We can do this, alright? We'll get her back." whispered the Prince as he cast her a serious look. Turning back to Anna's frozen corpse, Marensius let out a deep breath. Although the Trolls had given them the instructions required to save Anna... They failed to specify just how Elsa was able to save Anna with 'an act of true love'. What was she supposed to do? Wasn't mourning the loss of her sister enough?

"Only an act of true love can free her, huh? Well... What kind of an act would that be?"
 
Walking into that room was like walking into a bad dream. One she had so long ago. And one that she didn't want to walk into right now. She hesitated slightly at the door as it was opened and had to take a deep breath before following Marensius into the iced over ballroom. She had caused all this. Caused all the thick ice spread over the walls. Caused the spires of ice and the below freezing temperatures. And most of all, had caused her sister to be the way she was now, in a horrible hibernation, a statue with deadly wounds beneath the ice. She didn't want to see all this, didn't want to face her mistakes. Mistakes that perhaps could be fixed, but weren't guaranteed to do so. What if they couldn't fix all this? What if she was to remain in that ice for the rest of her life? Or at least until the rest of Elsa's life if things would be unthawed even after she died. What if she couldn't fix anything at all? What if all of this would do them no good? What if she never got a second chance and never got to see her sister ever again?

She looked to Marensius as he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and frowned softly, but nodded. There was no point in her fretting over this all. That would only make things worse. She just had to trust they would find a way to get her back. She took a deep breath and looked back over to the frozen body of her sister, speaking softly, "I'm not sure. I've only froze people, never thawed them." She looked down at her hands, "All my powers do is make ice. But I don't ever remember a time that it reversed the effects of what I've done before. If there is a way, through 'true love' I don't know how."

She sighed and looked from her frozen sister to him, "But, either way, we need to worry about finding a way to get her to the trolls, so they can heal her before we try anything that might unfreeze her."
 
Marensius nodded at Elsa's response. "Right... We've got to get her down." he muttered to himself, unsure about how to proceed from there. She had said there was no way (she knew of) to melt the ice, so Marensius had to resort to thinking outside the box. Taking a moment to analyze the ginormous structure ahead of him once more, Marensius nodded to himself and began to look around the room. In the corner closest to the door, he noticed something extremely beneficial to their current task; a discarded hammer which had previously been used to tenderize meat (presumably left by a chef during the evacuation of the castle during Elsa's 'emotional breakdown').

Quickly crossing over to the hammer, Marensius picked it up and bounced it lightly in his hands. It was a solid mass of metal and wood, perfect for striking hard and swiftly. Marensius also took note of the differences between each side (one was completely flat and the other had small but non-harmful spikes put there to aid in tenderizing the meat). Flipping it around so the side with the hardened nubs faced ahead of him, Marensius called out to Elsa. "You might want to move for a second, your highness!" he shouted before he gripped the hammer tightly in his right hand, raised his arm, and began charging towards the ice structure. As he did so, Marensius let out a 'battle-cry', oddly enough.

Once he reached the frozen body of Princess Anna, Marensius swung his hammer hard against one of the thinner portions of the ice holding up her left arm. The ice easily cracked under the weight (and strength) of his initial blow. Knowing he had exposed a weakness, Matthew continued to hammer away at the pillar of ice, which eventually broke, allowing Anna's hand to limply plummet to the ground. Smiling softly while chuckling to himself, Marensius turned to Elsa, gripping his hammer triumphantly, and admitted "I actually didn't think that was going to work... But hey; at least how we knew that this stuff can break. Okay, I'm gonna start hacking away at her left leg, you focus on breaking the ice on her right. The trolls said her body was in a state of hibernation, but they won't be able to work properly if her body is encased in ice. The least we can do to start is get her down from there. We'll focus on breaking the rest of the ice later, let's just make sure she can bend her limbs for now."
 
Elsa wasn't sure what Marensius was doing as he walked over and gripped an old meat tenderizer and she even grew somewhat worried when he told her that she might want to step for a moment. Just what was he planning on doing?! He was serious about trying to hit that thing against the ice, was he? What if he accidentally hit Anna?! Or messed something up to where he might harm Anna inside of that ice?! Yet, apparently he had no second thoughts about this, because he came running at the iced over girl, Elsa quickly stepping back and covering her eyes worriedly. Only when he spoke again did she uncover her eyes to see that the ice holding the girl's arm had been broken just enough for her arm to drop free. This meant that the ice could break. Of course, they couldn't break all of the ice on Anna. That would be too dangerous for the girl. But they could at least break the ice that was holding the girl in place so that they could move her and get her to transport her the trolls.

She let out a sigh of relief that him breaking that piece of ice hadn't harmed Anna and watched as he hacked away at the other webs of ice that held the girl to the wall. Soon, after what seemed like a long while of work, all the webs of ice were broken from the girl. It would be a lie to say that Elsa wasn't nervous about all this. She was very nervous actually. She knew the trolls had said they could heal Anna, but what if they were mistaken? What if they couldn't heal her? And if they did manage to heal her, who was to say that the girl would ever be unthawed? After all, it would take an act of true love to do so, and Elsa didn't even know what true love was. If she didn't know that, then how could she ever hope to get rid of the ice so that she might have her sister back?

The temperature began to drop slightly once again at her thoughts as she rubbed her arms, trying to calm her thoughts. Maybe now wasn't the time to be thinking about all of that though. For now, before being concerned over how to free Anna, they needed to worry about getting her healed. And that meant getting her to the forest so that the trolls could begin the long healing process. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, and looked over to Marensius, "We should go ahead and start our journey back to the forest I suppose. The sooner we get her there the better."
 
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By the time the ice-webs keeping Anna stuck to the ceiling and floor were completely broken, Marensius was exhausted. Throwing down the hammer he had found and letting out a few deep breaths, Marensius wiped his brow and stretched out his back. "Phew! That was fun." he joked, rubbing his hands together so as to alleviate some of the numbness caused by the consistent hammering. But thankfully he was finished and Ann was free. All they had to do now was get her to the trolls, which was by far the more daunting task.

When Elsa brought it up, Marensius offered her a supportive smile and nodded. Placing a hand on his chin, he rubbed his face curiously and thought about their next steps. "Yeah, that's true... But I doubt we're gonna be able to get all three of us on the same horse, let alone get there as quickly as you and I did when we were alone. That ice probably weighs a ton..." he explained, walking around Anna's still-frozen form before he tried to pick her up. The ice that encased her wounds added quite a bit of weight to the petite girl, forcing Marensius to struggle a bit as he heaved her up and over his shoulder.

Turning back towards Elsa, Marensius chuckled slightly and said "We might have to take another horse... Or a cart, depending on how the horse might react to the ice... Which I forgot to mention, by the way, is insanely cold. I can't feel my hands or shoulder right now... But hey; excellent craftsmanship, if I do say so. That stuff didn't come off easily."
 
"I think a cart might be best." Elsa stated, watching as Marensius lifted Anna over his shoulder. She knew good and well how cold that ice could be. After all, if it was able to put people into a frozen hibernation, it was probably freezing to normal people. Not her of course though. After all, the cold didn't bother her. But with Marensius or an animal such as a horse, the ice would probably be too cold for direct contact or even contact through clothing. A cart would keep anyone from loosing any limbs due to the cold, "We can put her in it and make out way to the trolls easier that way."

She wasn't exactly too keen on anyone seeing Anna though. No one in the kingdom, aside from herself and now Marensius, knew what had become of the princess. If people saw the girl frozen over like this, it would not go well at all. Fiddling with her long braid in thought, she finally looked to him, speaking, "We might need to put her inside of something. At least until we get out of the sights of the people in the kingdom. It wouldn't be good for them to see their princess in such a state." She could barely bare to see her sister like that herself knowing she was alive. Imagine the horror people would have when seeing her and likely thinking she was dead. It would not be good for the people of the kingdom.

"Perhaps if we put her on the cart while we're sure no one is watching and then cover the cart with a sheet for now. At least to hide the view of her from the people." She didn't like the idea of hiding things from her people. But, she also didn't want to scare them or freak them out more than they already were. And this was the only way she could think of how to do it. And then they woudl have to figure out what to do with her when they brought her back home after the Trolls healed her. Would they put her back in this room? Or something else? It was hard to think of what might happen with all of this and she could feel the temperature dropping with all of her worry, "There should be a spare cart by the stables out back. Let's get her there."
 
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