Chapter 10

~ The Day of fresh beginnings ~

Diana POV:

Okay... Today's the day that I meet Elsa, there's no way I couldn't, since I will be waiting for her atop the mountain where she makes her ice castle.

July 30th, also the day of my birthday. How convenient, I died on it, wished to be reborn one year before Frozen happened and bam, Elsa is getting her title the same day I am turning 17.

Can't wait for it. I wonder how it will go, since everything from now, will be new.

Good new, of course... My cold resistance works like a charm, I practically swam in the snow on top of the mountains and I only felt like a strong, winter wind blew past me, the higher the coldness, the less I feel of it percentage-wise, but sadly, while that meter goes up slowly, it still goes up, after all. So . at around -150 Celsius in such case I'd only feel around -40, I'd be a frozen popsicle.

But subsequently... There's barely anything that cold on the planet. So I should be okay. The only unknown factor to me is Elsa and her... unexplained powers. How cold can she reach? How strong and dense is her ice, since she can make it permanent and... How does she make sentient ice creatures when she's sick, just by sneezing...

She swam in an ocean so cold, it would take mere minutes to kill a normal person. Yes, I could stay alive if I were to get into it now... But can I swim like she did, through it? Hell no, that just defies all physics, but I died and got reborn here, so at this point, I should stop believing in such a thing as physics. And start getting on to make do with what I have.

Her inhumane strength could be a side effect of her being the fifth spirit. If she's completely made of the ice element... she's as hard as the ice she can make. But in such a case, her speed would be non-existent. If she was truly denser and harder because she's all ice... She shouldn't move like that, she'd be slower than a sloth.

But maybe I am thinking of this wrong. Her powers might make her denser and physically stronger, but at the same time give enough 'physically magical' prowess, it would make her be able to be as fast as she is while being as strong at the same time...

Also, her ice is permanent, but how high of heat does it have to be to melt it. Since Olaf did melt at some point, but then after another one of Elsa's side effects, he stopped melting and now seems okay. Or is it impossible to actually melt it, only doable by the other spirits, mainly the fire-lizard Bruni...

And is it her soul that powers the made ice creatures... Could be, maybe Olaf is her child-like side that was lost during the first time when she hit Anna with her powers, and Marshmallow at first was like a mini 'evil' bodyguard, so that may have been her anger, they do die when she dies in Frozen 2 after all...

Elsa's one big mystery... That I aim to solve, to the very last, little thing.

I got ready as best as I could for it. I made a camp of sorts, at first, like the stupid idiot that I am, I made it outside... yes great idea, do it on the mountain with snow on it... The next time I came up, it was all snowed in and destroyed.

So I searched for a cave of sorts. A tad bit further away from the spot, I found one, it could barely be called a cave, it was just a small hole, that could only fit my bed, so I thought of carrying some planks up there, so I could extend the place, but then I thought that'd be too much work for something I would need only for one day.

So, instead, I scrapped the cave idea, the camp idea, and went with something else entirely. I bought a shovel. Climbed up to the mountain, went to the chasm part, where Elsa is set to make the staircase bridge across. And a little bit to the side, to be harder to spot, made a hole... Like a morbid place for a coffin to be put into, which technically can be called that.

Since after that, I just bought a door, a sturdy one, and slowly carried it on top of the mountain and nailed it upside down to the hole to block the snow that would go inside the hole, it couldn't plug it up. Instead, now, the snow is on the door... It was quite tedious to come to clean it twice a day, so it wouldn't break from the pressure. I also made a bigger snow pile to the side, to not forget where it actually is.

All of this took me weeks to do, but due to it, I grew some prominent strength and endurance. So at this point, it's easy enough to do.

The time when Elsa runs away is dark, on a summer day like this, the sun sets around 10 p.m and 11 p.m, So I've got plenty of time. I have to leave two hours before it all happens. Since there's no way I can make it as fast as Elsa if I try to follow her. It takes me an hour and a half just to reach the hole where I will be in waiting. And that is the best-case scenario, I walked around many times, trying to determine the best and easiest possible way.

So, given that Elsa is superhuman... She has to make it under 30 minutes, she does run over water too... Okay... Maybe I should leave 3 hours earlier?

And... I will be able to see both her and Anna at the coronation, I will be there watching with Rosa... We are fine nowadays, we started talking and spending time with each other, we are back to how we used to be back in the first months. She invited me to it as my birthday present. At first, I wanted to refuse it... But I thought, why not see how Elsa gets coronated and then not stick for the after-party and just run as fast as I can to the mountain. So I agreed.

I wonder if my crimson hair, which neither of the princesses has seen before, will bring at least a bit of their attention to me since it's early Elsa, she might see me but brush me off completely due to her inner problems and Anna is the same as always, but with more maturity later on. She'd probably try to talk to me, but unfortunately for her, after the coronation, I will be long gone.

Ah, it's time to meet up with Rosa, enough of thinking the same things over and over again and time to act... by waiting for several hours... Okay, maybe I should try and have some fun, it will be boring otherwise.

As I make my way to Rosa, I see more people than I've seen in Arendelle before, makes sense, there are people from other countries and such. Well, whatever, none of it concerns me.

On my way, I get lost in my head... A full year in this world... That's crazy, for most of it I worked, which was fun even with its hurdles. It also assured me that I wouldn't be starving. During the 3 remaining months that I stopped working in Rosa's Park, I only spent money on necessities, but without a job, it never increased after all. So I am not as rich as I was, but I can still live freely for several months, so I am okay. And with what I have planned for myself and my future, if everything goes according to the plan, I should be set for life. For my new life.

"You're spaced out, darling"

I snap out of my head and look up to see the human equivalent of a mountain that is Rosa. I smile at her.

"Yes, sorry, just thinking..."

"Oh? what is it that you're thinking about?"

"That it's been a full year since we've met. We went through a lot during such a short time, which also seemed so long"

Rosa hearing what I said, looks at the sky and thinks for a moment, before answering.

"Indeed, it's been one crazy year, I hope that they continue, of course. For one year isn't nearly enough"

"Agreed" I reply.

In silence, Rosa extends her hand to me, I take it without pause and we start walking towards the castle.

As I see the castle get closer and closer... I start to get a headache, little by little, it becoming harder to ignore. I try as hard as possible so that Rosa wouldn't notice. But she already knows how I act... So seeing me tensing like this, got her worried immediately... Great, now what do I do... On one hand, I could force myself to go into the castle and see the coronation and spend my birthday with Rosa... But I have no idea what could happen to me in such a case. Elsa's dark aura is way too strong up close, could I really handle it?

On the other hand... if I don't try and force myself to do it... Who knows if I could make it to her ice castle... Yes she does let go of some of her emotions, but it's still not a place made of happiness and I also wished for her to be without inhibitions in there, so that could make the aura even more overwhelming...

No, I have to do this. To get used to it, there's no way that after the Great Thaw, that Elsa will never have bad days and her powers will have this effect... So I just gotta woman up and get through this. Okay. okay. Let's do this.

I turn to Rosa, seeing her worried for me, but still not saying anything, knowing that I will say something if it truly was something bad... Which it is, but there's no way I can explain that a dark 'cloud' shape-like aura that only I can see and feel is making my head burst... Maybe I could after she knows that our Queen has magical powers, but now? There's no way...

"I am fine, Rosa, just a light sunstroke, don't worry about it, when we sit down inside the castle and I get to drink some cold water, everything will be fine"

Rosa is not convinced, but it does get her to nod and get her confidence back. There's no way I can stop either, for Rosa, if I canceled my birthday plans that she had to rethink multiple times, because of me yet again... That would really break the woman's heart.

But I can't believe how stupid I am... I trained, made my way through the mountains many times so I wouldn't get tired, that I would know the best path, that I would be ready for anything. Yet here I am, not one thought of trying to get used to Elsa's aura... Seriously.

I may have to get out even earlier, the 3 hours was a joke at first, but now? It seems like a really good idea... I feel weak, with her aura static, it doesn't fluctuate. But during the after-party when she starts running away and freezing the whole of Arendelle, that's probably the darkest moment of her powers... I would probably topple down and faint again... if not die from the pressure.

So, yes, there will be absolutely no party for me, after seeing the coronation, I will have to leave and make my way to the mountain earlier than I first planned.

We are on the bridge that connects the gate of the castle walls... Well, one thing is for certain... This is the worst headache I've ever had. And I know that it won't be stopping any time soon, but at least it stopped increasing. Perhaps I am starting to get used to it.

With me in my head again, this time because of my headache, I don't see somebody colliding with me... I would've been on the ground just like the person that I bumped into if it weren't for Rosa holding my hand.

I look down at the person on the ground... Only to see blue eyes staring back at me... at my hair to be more accurate, but I, too am looking at her hair... strawberry-blonde.

Princess Anna... No way, I didn't realize the time, it's when she goes out and meets Hans... How could I forget that she overslept... It's not even a little detail to miss, but I practically didn't think of her for the last 3 months, it was all the meeting with Elsa.

Yet instead of meeting the Queen, I've met the Princess, who's on the ground staring at my hair and me being also stunned and having a headache, makes me look at her too. When I should be extending my hand to help her up.

It's good that Rosa knew that something was wrong with me because I am not normally so out of it. So she extended her own hand for Anna to take instead of me doing it.

Anna finally snapping out of her daze, takes Rosa's hand and gets up, patting her dress, to get out the dust collected from the fall. During all of it, her eyes never break off from me, but this time, her eyes are on mine instead of my hair.

This is so awkward, both of us, not saying anything, just staring at each other. Okay, break out of it. Screw the headache.

I take my shaking hands and raise them down to grip at my own dress and I bow in a ladylike manner in a greeting.

"Greetings, Princess"

Wait... wait, how could I know that she was a princess, she hasn't been seen in years by the people and I am supposedly new to Arendelle. But it seems neither Rosa nor Anna herself caught on to it just yet, probably because of the bizarreness of the whole situation.

Anna does the same, gripping her dress and curtsies back, still disoriented.

"Hello," With a soft voice she speaks.

If she stays here for too long, she will miss the meeting with Hans and that can't happen."Well good day to you, Princess" I bow again in farewell. Not leaving any time for her to talk to me and start moving, by grabbing Rosa's hand and continue walking towards the castle.

Narrator POV:

Rosa is looking at Diana, confused, not only because she seems to be hurting, but because she just left the Princess without talking with her, normally she'd try to talk to her, especially since she knows that Diana likes looking at pretty ladies, yet she barely even spared a glance at the beautiful Princess, She may never have another chance to even come close to her. So leaving like that is just... Weird, it's strange, she has no idea what's happening, but she wants to figure it out.

Anna, on the other hand, looks back at the two rushing women, one, the biggest she has ever seen, if she was alone, she'd be the one to be looked at... But the one that caught her attention and distracted her while she was running, which made her bump into her instead. The girl, with red, blood-like hair, was hypnotizing to look at. After the two disappeared from her view, she turned towards the town and started running again. With the last thoughts in her head being. Who was she and how did she know that she was a princess. Nonetheless, resuming her singing that was interrupted.

Diana POV:

That whole interaction did help me in some way, it helped me to put my mind off of my headache, if only for a short moment. But it started to get stronger and stronger... I am getting closer to Elsa, now I have to wait in the guest rooms for some time until the coronation ceremony begins.

This is where I and Rosa will spend our time for my birthday, with drinks and food, and small talk.

I go and try to sit down at the table, but Rosa still holding my hand guides me to the sofa.

"You should rest"

"What? No" I say shaking my head.

"I know that something's wrong"

"I am fine" I try and say convincingly.

"Right... And you like men... You do realize that Princess Anna was the most beautiful woman you've seen... Or should've seen, but you just ran away, I still don't understand what that was about. But I know that you aren't well, at all"

Ah... That is a good point.

"Fine... Perhaps the sunstroke was worse than I thought"

I say and lie down on the sofa. Rosa sitting near me.

Okay, this does help, I am not moving, only in one continuous prone pose. It hurts, but it's lessening by the minute.

"Heh, this is actually helping," I say jokingly.

"Yes, sometimes you just need to relax and lie down"

"... Thank you, for the birthday and the present of being able to get to the Queen's coronation"I say sentimentally.

"You're welcome, this way we can spend some time together without any problems. And we get to see an awesome sight of a Princess becoming a Queen"

"Indeed"

I sigh and lay still, feeling Rosa's fingers on my head, kneading softly, helping me more, my headache going down rapidly, making it easier to be inside the castle. But I know that nothing will actually stop it.

I don't know for how long we stay like this, in silence, me lying on the sofa, while Rosa sits above me with her palm on my hair. But a knock on our door breaks us out of our stupor.

"Get ready, Princess Elsa will be coming shortly"

Hearing that we both stand up, there's still a headache, but it's way more manageable.We move outside the room, towards the ceremony room, and sit down to wait for Elsa to come. I see Anna standing there also waiting, it's good that we are at the back, otherwise, she would definitely find me in the crowd.

The door to the hall opens and I finally see Elsa walk in.

Yep, even with a headache, I have a lady boner.

This angel walking down the aisle majestically, like the royalty she is, while trying to put upfront a tough face, that can hide from everybody, except me, who not only knows how anxious she really is, but who also lived with a mask herself and facing against other people and their masks for the better part of the year.

While that dress isn't one of my favorites, it still fits her body perfectly and that long royal purple cape emphasizes her regality even more. If not for my headache, I think I would faint just from looking at her.

Hands down, there is not a single woman in Arendelle... In the whole Frozen universe who is as beautiful as Elsa. I wonder... How she'd look with short hair? I might need to try and put her in a bun and look at her from the front, to get a false sense of her having short hair.

During my blatant staring at the soon-to-be Queen, I forgot my headache that was increasing the more I looked at her, even with the dark aura floating around her, it's invisible to me at this moment. I only see the divine light that the existence known as Elsa is radiating off of her. She's perfect... the only perfection that I've seen.

I also didn't notice the singing choirs and the ceremony beginning. I only got snapped out of it when the... priest? Whatever he is started talking to Elsa.

Ah, the gloves... the fuck is the problem with them... even if you explain why they need to be taken off, it just makes no sense.

Okay and now everybody is getting up.

I know what's coming. Everybody congratulating her by saying her name...

Should I do it? If so... should I do it silently? To not get noticed? Or as enthusiastic as I can? So that everybody would look at me, but I'd only care for her blue eyes on me, everybody else's wouldn't even be acknowledged. Ah, screw it, I have a headache, I met with Anna, it's Elsa's coronation and it's my birthday. So, whatever happens, happens.

Okay... okay... Here it comes.

Breathe in and let it out. Heh.

"QUEEN ELSA OF ARENDELLE!!!"

Hahaha, that felt great, all of this build-up of a year-long wait, and my first impression of the sisters couldn't be worse. I bumped into Anna and ran away from her. And now I shouted Elsa's name so loud, with so much emotion behind it that I alone was heard in the room,

overshadowing everybody. And now everybody is looking at me, not letting out a sound. But I only look back at the, now dubbed Queen, as her blue eyes stare at me.

Those eyes... That stare at mine, I could stare at them forever, so pretty. I start clapping, while her eyes go upwards to my hair.

Everybody hearing me clap, finally start doing the same. The sound of clapping breaks Elsa out of her daze and she smiles at the crowd.

Narrator POV:

"Thank you for the birthday, it was my best one yet, I mean it, Rosa. Now? I have to go, we will meet later. Bye and thank you again" Diana doesn't wait for Rosa's answer and her confusement to vanish as she runs out of the room and being out of close distance and not being able to look at the radiating angel, all the pain she ignored comes back to hit her in a hard strike.

Falling to the ground, with soundless screams coming out of her mouth, with tears involuntarily pouring out of her eyes and blood coming down from her nose.

She's starting to blackout. But she's not allowing it by the sheer power of her will. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much blood she has to lose, how many tears she has to shed, she will make her way to the mountain without fail. And so, she stands up and starts limping towards the exit of the castle.

Meanwhile, in the ceremony room, Elsa is talking with her sister Anna, still sometimes glancing around the crowd, to see if she could spot the blood-haired girl that screamed her name with such raw emotion rivaling that of her own when she heard herself scream when she hit Anna with her magic when they were kids.

But no matter how hard she looks, she can't see her. Anna getting her attention yet again, so she gives up... for now.

Diana finally having made out her way outside, starts walking towards the mountain range, and the further she gets away from the castle, the better she gets, but never the 100% that she was earlier in the day.

With tears still coming out, but now from everything that has happened up to this day. Her 16th birthday, her death, the strange encounter with Alani, being alone in this world only having a friend in Rosa, meeting Anna no matter how bizarre it was, her first birthday in this new world and finally seeing the person she came for, to this world and seeing her being coronated, topped off all of her emotions, so right now she's an emotional wreck. Sad, melancholy, angry, happy, ecstatic, confused all at the same time.

Her body can't keep up with her brain, she's making her way to the mountain purely on body instinct that she acquired while training by walking up and down the mountain repeatedly. After walking for a while. She finally starts to get her bearing, her mind stopping for a hot minute and allowing her body to keep up. Now both the mind and body are together again. She realizes that she's a quarter away from her goal.

Her body from previous forced endeavors of going to the castle, exhausted, making it harder to climb up the mountain and the last steps to her waiting spot, where she knows that Elsa will come from, singing in her beautiful, powerful voice.

She takes the shovel that she left here, opens the door of the hole, piles some snow on the door, so it could be hidden when she gets into the hole, and closing the door.

With the shovel, she makes a medium-sized hole below the door, for extra air to come in and for slightly more place to move. And lastly, so she could better hear Elsa's voice. She could dig herself out if she couldn't open the door, just in case.

So she sits down in the hole, burying herself into it, taking the shovel with her into it, closing the door, the snow that was on the door, now being on top of the door, she tries to slightly open the door, with the amount she put onto it, she can still open it quite easily. But she has no idea how long she will have to wait and how much extra snow will rise until then.

So now she could hear Elsa and not be seen by Elsa. She needs to strike at the opportune moment. And that is the brief and one short day before everybody starts to arrive at the ice castle. Plenty of time to make her debut... Well a continuation of her debut, since that started at the castle.

While her thoughts drift around and around inside her head. One word breaks her out of her stupor. She didn't realize that Elsa would be here this quick, she barely had time to get ready. Was she this slow because of her exhaustion? He doesn't know, but she's happy that she made it.

And hearing that word she finally smiles, wholeheartedly, for the first time since she got to this world. She's beaming like a kid. It makes her heart flutter just by hearing the words that she listened to quite a few times... more than a hundred, that's for sure and she is proud to admit it.Unfortunately, she was a tad bit too far away to hear the start of it, of what the Queen sang. But she heard the best and most important part. The echo bouncing around the place, helping with it.

Those words, those exact words are what started everything for Elsa Anne Martin. And now they are the same words which will start everything for Diana Frost and her new life.

'Let It Go'

~ End of Chapter 10 ~