Chapter 7: The prophecy.

Twelve years – Eight years.

It was a winter morning, during Elsa's twelfth birthday. She had been playing with Anna all day as this was the only time of the year she was free from her boring classes. And of course, she had been a knight while the redheaded princess had played as the damsel in distress. It had become Anna's favorite game over the years… and truth to be told, Elsa didn't mind it one bit. Actually, maybe she liked it a little too much. Especially the kiss that eventually came at the end. True, they were just little pecks on the lips, but… they never failed to make butterflies appear in her stomach as a pleasant sensation burned its way through her body.

Elsa had tried searching about the subject one day at the library, but she'd found little to nothing. The only thing she read about women loving other women in a way that wasn't strictly platonic, had been that it was wrong and unnatural and such women were going to burn in hell so… yeah, it didn't help much.

That day Elsa was also heading to the library, but not to investigate further about such matters, nor to search a book to do some of her homework. Instead since it was her twelfth birthday, her parents had decided that she was old enough to learn some secret that she really had no interest in… but both monarchs had summoned her, so she didn't have any option. Sighing, she opened the door of the library and walked to where her parents were standing, next to some bookcase and watching a book that looked beyond ancient.

"You requested my presence?" Elsa asked as politely as she could, even if she was annoyed that they had made her leave her sister early.

"Oh, yes. Elsa, please come." The king answered as the three royals walked towards one of the tables. Once they were all sat, he spoke again. "You see, Elsa, your mother and I… we've been meaning to tell you something ever since you were born, but you weren't ready." Hearing this, Elsa titled her head in confusion, but at the same time, she was curious to know this important thing they'd been keeping from her.

"Adgar." The queen interrupted. "I still think she isn't ready yet. It's not something a child should hear." She looked at him with pleading eyes and the king sighed.

"I know, but we've already discussed this." He reminded her. "She will have to go to the town and attend important events sooner or later. If she doesn't hear this from us, she'll hear it somewhere else."

"Yes, I understand but…"

"Enough." Adgar's strict voice quieted his wife, telling her that his mind was already made up. Then she turned to Elsa and handed her the book, which she eyed with curiosity. There were strange runes inscribed, and some drawings of weird-looking creatures, but she didn't understand anything. "You see, Elsa..." The king started. "Once upon a time, when Arendelle was founded, it wasn't only the savages of the mountains that our ancestors had to fight in order to build a city here; there were also magical creatures, like witches, ogres and fairies." Elsa looked at him in disbelief. Did he really think all those stupid tales were true? "However, the most difficult ones to fight, were the trolls. As they were made of rock, swords wouldn't hurt them, and the cannons were far too big to be transported through the steep roads. Plus, they possessed great magic, and were able to cast curses on the men that dared try and kill them." Adgar paused, letting Elsa process all this information, and the girl started looking at the drawings, now seeing they represented just that. "At the end, a powerful man was able to defeat them, though the stories doesn't tell how. Some say he somehow stole their magic, but no one knows for sure. At the end only one of those creatures remained, the eldest troll, and, with his last breath, he casted a curse upon the new kingdom."

"But… I mean… that's just a tale… right?" Elsa asked what she had been thinking all the while.

"I thought that too, but…" He turned the page and showed her a few verses, written in the same old language. "The curse was written down, and people started believing it, waiting for the dreaded moment in which the land would be frozen."

"Frozen?" Elsa gulped, now understanding where her father was heading.

"Here…" He handed her another book, this one written in Arendellian. "This is the translated prophecy." Hesitantly, Elsa took the book in her hands and started reading.

Your future is bleak

Your kingdom will splinter

Your land shall be cursed

With unending winter.

With blasts of cold will come darkest arts

And a ruler with a frozen heart

Then all will perish in snow and ice

Unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice.

"You think this is talking about me?" Elsa asked, her voice annoyed and angry. She didn't like it one bit, but not because she believed it, but because if they believed it… if the kingdom believed it, they'd seen her as the enemy, as a monster that they needed to kill. And that scared her, especially since the prophecy talked about a sword sacrifice.

"Well… it does say something about a ruler with a frozen heart. And you are the crown princess." Her father admitted, and Elsa couldn't help feeling betrayed, even if she didn't expect much from her parents anymore.

"Adgar!" The queen reprimanded him.

"But… nothing is sure, right? It could still be only a tale." He tried to appease both his wife and his daughter, but the princess had already been hurt by his words.

"And there's something more." Her mother interfered, hoping to cheer her up a little. "The translation isn't quite right, look." She pointed to some annotations that were at the next page.

Elsa read them; the first said that the line 'Then all will perish in snow and ice' could also been interpreted as 'Then she will perish in snow and ice', as there was a part of a rune that was missing. The same went for the next line, where 'Unless you are freed with a sword sacrifice' could also be read as 'Unless she is freed with a sword sacrifice'. Still, Elsa thought the original lines made more sense, given the context.

The second annotation talked about a knight that had discovered a wall in a cavern, covered with runes presumably written by the trolls, that talked about ice magic. Apparently if magical ice hit a living thing, depending on the place it hit, there were several possible effects; if on a limb, it would simply catch frostbite; if on the guts, the person would starve to death, no matter how much they ate; if on the head, the person would lose all their memories, unless the magic was removed… if on the heart, the person would freeze to death, and the only way to cure that was with an act of true love. The princess found this interesting, and thought they were probably the only thing good about that book.

The third annotation was similar to the second, but this time the information came from a mage that had been captured from one of the remaining savage tribes. Regarding the prophecy, he had said that ice magic was the most dangerous and difficult of all kinds to control, because if the wielder felt any extremely strong emotion, they'd be destroyed by their own powers. Elsa shivered at this. She decided not to feel anything ever again, in case this was true.

"I'm assuming the people know about this?" Elsa asked, even though she already knew the answer.

"Yes, but only the original prophecy." The king clarified.

"Is that why you almost never take me out of the castle?" Elsa asked, feeling deep resentment towards them for having kept that information for so many years. The monarchs didn't answer, but their guilty faces were enough. "Is that also why you always treat me so differently?" She added with fury.

"Elsa…" Idunn started, but the princess got up and looked at them with the deadliest glare she could muster, at the same time allowing her powers to cover the table with a thin layer of frost. Her parents flinched with horror. She internally smiled at this.

"You don't see me as your daughter. Only the monster of a prophecy that will destroy your kingdom. You fear me, you don't love me." Elsa snarled, remembering how there had always been something hiding behind her parents indifferent stares, something dark that they didn't want to acknowledge but that they always acted upon. Deep down, they didn't want her there. They wished she had never been born. That explained why they never hugged her or kissed her, why they always punished her and never believed a single word from her; they thought she was evil by nature, a demon, a witch… a monster.

That's why they banned her powers, and that was also why they didn't like that she spent so much time with Anna. They thought she'd hurt her. She wanted to kill them, and her powers stirred at the thought, like it pleased them.

"Elsa!" Adgar was the first one to regain some composure. "I said no powers!" When the princess just kept staring at him with hatred, he got up to look more intimidating. "Thaw the table in this instant, or…"

"Or what? Are you going to kill me with a sword before I freeze the entire kingdom?" Elsa retorted, even if at the back of her mind she knew she shouldn't provoke him. Even with her magic, he was the one in power here. She didn't care though, because now all the negativity in her life made sense. She didn't know if she should just break down crying, run as far away as possible, or make them pay for the pain they'd inflicted on her.

"Elsa! That's no way to speak to your father." Idunn chastised her, but Elsa ignored her.

"I don't care. You are not my parents. You've never seen me as your daughter anyways." She snarled and turned around, starting to walk towards the door, but was soon stopped by a strong hand holding her wrist.

"You're coming to my studio." Adgar's stern voice said, giving her chills. The princess knew why he was taking her there, and she hated it; her hands would hurt for days… but she didn't have another option. If she struggled, the punishment would only be worse. Now she wished she hadn't opened her mouth.

"Elsa!" Anna's cheery voice was heard as she got into her sister's bedroom. However, she stopped dead in her tracks upon seeing her sister laying on her bed instead of getting ready for dinner. "Elsa? Are you okay?"

"…No." She admitted with a shaky voice that prompted Anna to rush to climb onto the mattress and comfort her sister. She saw she was curled into herself with her gaze lost. Her gloves had red stains.

"Elsa… what happened?" She asked concerned, as she ran a hand through her bangs, wishing to take away the pain that has marring her beautiful features.

"Anna… do you think I'm a monster?" Elsa asked instead, her eyes fixed on the cushion.

"No, why would I ever think that?" Anna asked confused.

"Do you think that I'm dangerous? That I could freeze the entire kingdom and kill innocent people?" She insisted, her voice monotonous, without feeling.

"No, of course not!" Anna quickly assured her.

"Then… why do they?" She asked with distress, this time letting a few tears fall from her eyes.

"…They?"

"But… maybe they're right, you know? I wanted to kill them. Earlier today I-I…" She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

"Elsa… what are you talking about?" Anna asked again, but instead of answering, Elsa looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Anna… do you love me?"

"Yes." Anna nodded, confused as to why her sister was asking her this.

"Will you always be here for me?"

"Yes." Anna repeated.

"And… do you promise me you will never let them kill me? No matter what I do?"

"If someone tries to kill you, I'll beat them until they ask for mercy." Anna assured her with a smile, but still wondered what had made Elsa ask about such dark things. Suddenly though, she was caught by surprise when a pair of warm lips pressed against her own; they weren't playing the game like normal, but she figured Elsa needed it.

"I love you, Anna." She whispered as she gave her a hug and snuggled against her neck. "More than anything." And Anna smiled at this, not knowing just how deep the love Elsa felt for her really was.

"We should go have dinner and eat your birthday cake." Anna reminded her, thinking she was better now. She really wanted to eat cake.

"I'm not hungry." Elsa lied. She didn't feel like facing her parents so soon.

"But…"

"You go, if you want." She encouraged, knowing how much Anna liked cake.

"Really?" Anna asked separating slightly from her and giving her a disappointed stare. "You won't come?"

"I don't feel like it." Elsa kissed her cute little nose and then her temple, inhaling the comforting scent of her sister.

"Are you sure you're not sick?" Anna asked, concerned and a little worried at her sister's stranger behavior.

"Come on, go have fun." Elsa encouraged, giving her a little push towards the edge of the bed. Knowing her sister wasn't going to relent any time soon, Anna sighed and walked towards the door, even if deep down she knew something was seriously wrong with Elsa.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, but I've been trying to finish my other fics before continuing this one. I promise the next chapter will come sooner though. Thanks for reading :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13 :D