Oslo, Norway, 12.11.1989, 17:23

"Show me, Elsa," my father ordered, his voice tight. He looked sad and old, older than ever. Mother was standing next to him, her face pale, and her eyes red, bloated. I knew she had cried, we both had.

Thankfully, Anna had survived, but it had been close, so very close.

I pointed my palm at the ground, releasing a small torrent of snow and ice, freezing a bit of the ground.

"And you hit your sister with this?"

"I didn't mean to!" I hadn't, I would never hurt Anna, never on purpose. "We were just playing but Anna was going so fast and then I slipped. I didn't mean to."

He exhaled a deep sigh, "I'm sorry Elsa," he said, "I know you wouldn't want that, but you did it, nonetheless. The doctors said that it wasn't serious, that we shouldn't let a small child like that play outside with snow like that, but also that she will be okay with a bit of rest."

Thank God for that, thank you, thank you, thank you!

"You still hurt your sister, Elsa, with that. With your… powers."

"Elsa, sweetie, we just want you both safe, you and Anna."

"I know," I mumbled, "I'm sorry." I was, I truly was. I never wanted anything to happen to Anna or to me.

"How long have you had them?"

"Last week, when I was lost for a while when we went to the forest. I slipped down a hill while I was looking at a bunny." My fingers clenched around the hem of my dress. "I was alone, I was afraid, it was cold until it suddenly wasn't. I found the others soon enough afterwards and I discovered I could do these things."

He exchanged glances with mother before turning back to me.

"Elsa, I want- I need you to promise me to not use your powers again. Not around Anna, not anywhere."

I had seen this coming and I wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one hand, I certainly didn't want to hurt Anna or my parents or anyone else, really, but on the other, the ice could be fun. But no, I was the older sister, I was supposed to keep Anna safe, but I couldn't do that with them.

"Okay," I said, looking down.

"Elsa, look at me, honey," I met his eyes; they were moist and I knew my father was about to cry. "We want it for your safety. Do you know what happens to children with powers like yours? The government comes. They are not sure where people with powers fit in yet and they are worried and not entirely reasonable. We don't want them to take you away. Think about how Anna would feel if her sister was suddenly gone?"

My stomach clenched. Someone could take me away?

"Yes," he said, his voice coarse, "They could." Apparently I had asked that out loud.

"So, promise me, Elsa. Never use your powers, especially not in the open. Maybe when you are older, when things have straightened out in the government and beyond. Promise me, Elsa. Promise us."

I saw the tears in the eyes of my parents and I felt them on my own.

"I promise."

Oslo, Norway, 06.09.1996, 11:04

"Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show. Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show." I kept repeating the mantra over and over again, as I had for the past seven years. Today was Anna's sixteenth birthday, and I had to be perfectly in control. I kept tugging my gloves until they fit perfectly but I knew I was going to fidget with them before long. I always did.

"Elsa," I heard Anna yell from outside my door, as she knocked enthusiastically. I rushed to the door, about to tear it open, but I forced myself to calm down. I had to be composed, tranquil, in control. I wasn't a child any more.

"Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show," I muttered one last time before opening the door.

Anna was beaming, an infectious smile on her face. We weren't as close as we used to be. It broke my heart, and hers, but I had to keep her safe, from me, from my powers and from people who would want to use them. My father's warnings had turned out to be prophetic in nature as more and more nations built military or police troops entirely made up of people with powers, even going as far as forcefully recruiting children and teenagers into special training programs.

There might be some distance between us now, but at least we grew up together, as sisters, as a family. I wouldn't change that for anything.

"Happy Birthday, Anna," I said, mirroring her smile. It was cute to see my sister blush, and she enveloped me in a big hug. It felt good, warm. Safe. Anna was the only person I had physical contact with, ever since the talk with my father. I kept my distance from my parents, and I knew mother especially had taken it hard. That's why she had become so clingy towards Anna, who had to endure the affection for two children. Luckily, Anna was a hugger in nature and didn't mind.

Anna was the only person, and even then, only on her birthdays, where I couldn't deny her that.

"Thank you, Elsa. Oh, I'm so happy you are coming with us. I feared you were going to the uni already."

"Orientation starts next week."

Not much would change though, I would still be living here. I couldn't risk roommates, and I couldn't afford a flat on my own. I could handle the commute, no need to waste money. Besides, living here meant contact with Anna, however little that was.

It didn't take long until we were all piled into the car, following our usual birthday procedure. We would watch a movie as a family, play mini-golf and then drive to our usual restaurant where we went whenever we had something special to celebrate.

I looked at Anna, her face glowing with joy. I couldn't mess this up for her.

Conceal it, don't feel it, don't let it show.

Oslo, Norway, 06.09.1996, 18:46

It had been a truly great day, until the Behemoth sirens had started ringing, forcing us to flee our restaurant to reach one of the bunkers built to provide shelter and protection. Four years ago, it had appeared for the first time, and since it was destroying big cities all over the world, one by one, every few months. Endbringer, some people were calling it.

Our restaurant, though, was overlooking the fjord, and what came wasn't Behemoth, but something else. The first we knew of it was a tidal wave crashing into Oslo.

Initially, I had considered us lucky that we had been on the other side of the harbor than where the tidal wave had hit. Buildings had vanished, turning into rubble, with lots of wet patches and puddles. The water in the harbor was in flux and a second wave was coming right towards us.

Mother screamed and we ran.

You can't outrun a tidal wave.

Oslo, Norway, 09.09.1996, 13:27

Ever since that day in the forest seven years ago, I hadn't felt the cold anymore. I didn't feel the wet clothes clinging to me in the howling wind, I didn't feel the cold of the night and I didn't feel the snow that had been falling for three days straight, with no apparent intention of stopping.

I hadn't eaten, drunk or slept. I didn't know if I could any more. All I did was to watch those damned eight seconds, when the wave had crashed into us and had killed the only good thing in my life, over and over again.

"Excuse me." The voice that interrupted me came from a girl younger than me. She had long, unkempt black hair, peeking out from under her thick hooded jacket. Her clothes were dirty, and though thick, she was still shivering. Her breath was visible and her lips had a blueish color.

"Are…are you the Snow Queen?"

It was the first time I had heard the name, but I suppose it was only a question of time before they gave me a new name. "Leave me alone."

"Please, please, I'm begging you, you have to stop this. It's killing everyone who wasn't killed by that thing, Leviathan they are calling it now, and who can't escape."

If they had been as busy helping people or building better countermeasures against these monsters as they were with coming up with names, maybe things would have been different.

Then again, that both the Endbringer and I had been named at the same time was unsurprising.

After all, it was debatable as to who had done more damage to Oslo.

There was nothing I could do, though. She was wasting her time. I could no more thaw the frozen waters in the harbor than I could vanish the snow and ice from the blizzard that had been raging for three days now.

Oslo had been ravaged by the Leviathan and then frozen by me.

"I can't, now go away."

"The roads are blocked by debris, snow and ice, cars can barely travel, helicopters and planes can't fly in this weather and you froze the ocean," her shivering hand pointed in the direction of the harbor, "People are trapped."

All true, but I couldn't bring myself to care much. My thoughts kept coming back to Anna.

"I'm sorry." I was, I had tried to stop it ever since yesterday, but there wasn't anything I could do. My powers had always been about creating ice, never about making it stop.

She stomped with her left foot, leaving a deep, messy impact in the snow, "I don't care that you're sorry! My sister is dying and we can't save her because of you! Just, just make it stop. Please."

I couldn't stop the snow storm, nor thaw the ice. But saving her sister was something I could understand, respect. I know why she walked to the coldest part of the city, risking frostbite and hypothermia. She could do what I couldn't, with all this power that could only cause misery.

I could help though.

Hey Elsa, do you want to build a snowman?

With a wave of my hand, the ice and snow around us assembled into a hulking giant, roughly the size of a tractor. With two legs, two arms, a head and a body it looked like a caricature of a human, a homunculus of ice. The girl shrieked, taking a step back.

"He will listen to you," I said, having him move forward and kneel, extending his huge right hand with the palm facing up. "He will come with you, he will carry your sister and you out of the city as far as you want. He will protect you. That's all I can do."

I should probably send more snowmen out, to help as many people leave as possible.

She was uncertain, but ultimately, worry about her sister won over and she stepped on the huge hand and the snow man lifted her on her shoulder.

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

With that, I was alone again.

Snow Queen, a fitting title. That's all I was.

I waved my hand again, and a construct of ice rose in the ruins of St. Hanshaugen Park. The once beautiful green spot, full with trees and lush grass had turned into a white tundra, and in the place of the old white towers, there now stood a palace.

Every Queen needed her castle, after all, to rule her kingdom.

Oslo, Norway, 31.12.1999, 23:56

I was truly free for the first time, in more ways than one. I could use my powers freely. After all, there was no one to conceal it from, I didn't feel much and everyone knew.

Oslo had been declared a dead city a month after the Leviathan attack. My snowmen had swarmed the city, helping where they could, evacuating people en masse. They were well suited for the job. They could carry a lot, move debris and were immune to gunfire and other weaponry as they either absorbed the damage or reassembled immediately if they were hit by something that destroyed them.

The faster I helped people leave, the faster I would be left alone.

So I was, three years later. People left Oslo alone. A few stragglers came in from time to time, to explore the city, to look for news, damages, valuables but left soon enough. For most, the eternal winter, the occasional blizzard and the city's new inhabitants, the roaming snow creatures, were deterrents enough.

Oslo belonged to me, now. It would serve as Anna's tomb, and I would protect it.