Chapter 19

Chapter 9 Arendelle AFTER THEY LEFT TWILIGHT TOWN, SORA, DONALD, AND GOOFY arrived in a new world. “It’s cold!!!” Sora wrapped his arms around himself, shivering. It was nighttime, and they were standing in the middle of some snow-covered mountains. Everything was white as far as the eye could see, and the snow was still falling. “Donald, gimme a coat!” Sora shouted, almost frozen to the bone. I can’t stay in this world with short sleeves! “The magic doesn’t work that way,” Donald snapped, turning away. “Guess he’s too used to the beach!” “Hey, I’m an islander! What can I say?” Sora complained back to Goofy, rubbing his arms to keep warm. Snow was unheard-of on the blue waters and blue skies of the Destiny Islands. Sora had been to Christmas Town before, so he wasn’t entirely unfamiliar with this kind of weather, but he’d never been this cold in his life. “You guys have long sleeves, but I don’t!” “Aw, you’ll be fine.” “No, I won’t!” Sora complained, turning around toward Donald, when he suddenly noticed something. “…Huh?” The water’s freezing over, but it’s starting from the shore by that cove… “Donald, this isn’t your magic, is it?” Donald shook his head. He’d noticed the water, too, but he seemed just as confused. “Do ya think it’s the Heartless?” Sora took off running for the shore to see if Goofy’s fears were right. “Might be. Let’s go.” The cold isn’t so bad if I keep moving, at least. This world is so quiet and dark—and freezing, too, obviously. I don’t know why, but it makes me really…sad. As they approached the edge of the water, Sora and his friends spotted a woman dashing across the surface with her purple cloak flapping behind her. With each step, the water froze beneath her feet. Sora also noticed the expression on her face, full of regret and grief. “I wonder what happened.” “Maybe the Heartless? We should talk to her,” Goofy suggested with concern as they watched her hurry off into the mountains. Maybe he felt the same as Sora. The snow was still falling, but not as heavy as before. The winds were dying down, too. Where had she gone? It’s kinda hard to walk in this snow; my feet keep sinking down. Sora and crew found the object of their search just as they were approaching a valley. “Hey, hold up!” Sora called, and the woman turned their way. She was wrapped in a purple cloak, and she seemed frightened. She was wearing only one glove, on her right hand. “Why are you here? Where did you come from?” she asked. “Hi. I’m Sora, and I—” Sora was about to answer honestly, until Donald shot him a look that shut him up. Oh yeah, world order! “Uh…I’m from…let’s just say someplace…a little warmer.” Nodding in satisfaction at Sora’s discretion, Donald introduced himself. “I’m Donald.” “And I’m Goofy.” The woman watched them carefully, then paused in thought for a moment. “Are you visiting Arendelle? For the coronation?” What’s a coronation? Sora wasn’t sure, but Donald and Goofy were nodding. Maybe the best way to keep our cover is to just play along and act like I know what she’s talking about. “Uh… You got us! So, what’s your name?” The woman clasped her hands in front of herself. “Elsa… Queen Elsa of Arendelle,” she replied, her voice firm and resolute. “What? The queen?!” Sora and friends exclaimed, snapping to attention. If she’s a queen, she must be really special. Well, not all the queens I’ve met were on the up and up, but I can tell Elsa isn’t like that, at least. She’s very royal—just maybe having a rough time right now. The queen averted her eyes. “You shouldn’t be out here. Please go back to the village,” she said, then turned and began to walk away. “Why? Your Majesty, you look like you could use a friend. Don’t you want to talk?” Sora asked, concerned for her. Elsa stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “Please leave,” she said curtly, rejecting his attempt at kindness. “I need to be alone. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Sora wasn’t about to stop trying, though. “Oh… Is it that bad? You must’ve been through a lot.” “We know what that’s like, don’t we?” Donald added, trying to help get through to her. Goofy jumped in, too. “Sure, adventuring’s fun, but it definitely has its ups and downs. When the going gets tough, us friends have to stick together!” It was so important to have others by your side. “Exactly! Although, Donald, you do lose your temper a lot, so…I can relate to wanting some alone time,” Sora quipped before the conversation could get too heavy. He stepped closer to Elsa. “What? I don’t do that!” Donald quacked back, taking the bait. However—while they were busy bantering, the snow had started to pick up again. Elsa’s head lowered, her hands clenched into fists, and then she spun around toward the trio. “Enough!” she cried, and as a glow burst from her left hand, spikes of ice jutted out of the ground toward them. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were stunned. “Elsa… Did you…” She shrank back in fear, as if shocked by her own actions, and the blustering, snowy winds began to wane. Several dark forms appeared behind her. “The Heartless!” Sora and crew rushed to Elsa’s defense with Keyblade, staff, and shield. “Don’t worry. We got ’em. Take cover!” The queen complied with a small nod and backed away while Sora and his friends went for the Heartless. Fittingly enough, the Heartless of this frozen world were particularly icy. The ones they were fighting now resembled white deer with antlers made of ice. “I bet something hot will do the trick. Something like…Fire!” Donald’s spell melted away the antlers of one of the deer. Sora shot off a Fire spell of his own, then followed it up with a strike from his Keyblade. While their icy nature made them a little more resilient than usual, these weren’t exactly the strongest Heartless he’d ever seen. “And that takes care of that!” Once all the creatures were gone, Elsa cautiously crept out of hiding and made her way back to Sora. “Elsa, are you okay?” Sora asked. “I…I’m sorry I was so upset. Thank you for your help.” However, one more foe remained. As Elsa offered her thanks, a Heartless burst out from under the snow and pounced at Sora, Donald, and Goofy from behind. Elsa was the first to notice. “Look out!” She held out her gloveless left hand and shot a bolt of ice from it that vanquished the Heartless instantly. “That’s amazing. You can control ice,” Sora said, marveling at her incredible ability, but Elsa only lowered her gaze and hid her left hand with the right one. “Control it?” she said softly. “No, all I ever do…is hurt people.” “It’s okay. Those were just the Heartless,” said Goofy, trying to reassure her. After a moment, Elsa looked up and asked, “You said that word before. What are they?” “Monsters that are after people’s hearts. Wherever they go, there’s trouble,” Sora explained. Of course she wouldn’t know why such creatures were appearing in her world. “They’re after people’s hearts?” Her eyes lowered again to her hands. “Yes, they’re dangerous! You should go home before it gets any worse.” Elsa’s definitely strong, but that doesn’t mean she’s safe, thought Sora. The worst thing about Heartless was they took advantage of the darkness within people’s hearts—and fear was one such form of darkness. Elsa only shook her head, though, having already made her choice. “This is my home now. I can’t go back. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” “What?” Sora asked, worried. “Arendelle is safer with me staying here,” Elsa declared firmly, then made to take her leave. “Not safer for you!” Sora persisted, but then a wall of ice rose up from the ground in front of him, Donald, and Goofy—embodying Elsa’s rejection of them in her heart. “Please, go away!” she shouted from the other side of the barrier. They had no way of going after her now. “Elsa…” Sora pressed his hands against the wall. “Aw, don’t worry, she’ll be okay,” Goofy reassured him. “Seems like she’s pretty strong.” “You gotta let her go. She wants to be alone,” said Donald. “Yeah, I hear you…but I just wanted to know why she was so sad,” he muttered softly with concern. The sadness on her face had been obvious, but it wasn’t the only emotion there. Sora fell into thought. Even if Donald and Goofy are right and we should leave Elsa alone, what do we do now? The three of them were mulling it over when they heard a woman’s voice out of the blue. “And how is it any of your business? Read the room, kiddo.” They whirled around to see a blond-haired woman wearing one of the Organization’s coats. For some reason, her hair was all slicked back except for two pieces that stuck up like antennae. “Who are you? That’s…the Organization coat. You new?” Sora asked. He’d never seen her before—never seen any girls in the Organization, actually. Either way, she had a major attitude. “Excuse me? Oh yeah, you forgot. The name’s Larxene. Next time, remember. And we’ll take care of Elsa, so don’t you worry,” she haughtily informed Sora. “Why are you after Elsa?” So the Organization’s up to their tricks here, too. “No one’s gonna hurt her. But we’re not about to put up with your meddling. Stay here and behave yourselves.” Larxene extended her hand toward the wall of ice and shot a powerful bolt of white lightning from her palm. The whole thing exploded into chunks that began piling up around Sora and his friends. “Wawawak!” “Wait. The ice!” “It’s going to wall us in!” Larxene smirked at their panic. “Ice is so not my style,” she sighed, just as the final hunk of ice slammed down in front of Sora, Donald, and Goofy to complete their prison. “Larxene!” Sora yelled, but his voice couldn’t reach her through the wall. They were completely, decisively trapped. “What’s with this place…?” A look around revealed they were now in a whole labyrinth built of ice. “Anybody see a way out?” Sora sighed and sagged in defeat. The ceiling, the walls, the floor—everything was all ice, so he had no idea what to do.