Chapter Seventeen

6 0 0
                                    

A CASTLE LIBRARY is expected to be holding knowledge about the kingdom and many other things about the world. Knowledge and information that is stored in books and other written documents. Ancient scrolls and history books are just the things that are expected to be found within a royal library.

But in Arendelle, these kinds of things aren't just the ones their library holds but also the undusted bookshelves, web-covered corners, and dirty floors.

No one has set foot there since the day the former king and queen died. That was the very room where the whole family used to play family games and during winter, they'd cuddle together in front of the fireplace and keep each other warm. Such were the moments that only break Anna's heart.

She reckoned that those times may have occurred prior to Elsa's killing spree times. It would seem that the present queen is to be blamed for the drastic change in their entire family. If she hadn't killed one of their servants, perhaps, nothing would have changed.

But Anna is too good to blame her sister. Elsa may or may have not intended her first kill but she doesn't blame her. Elsa was a kid back then and she struggled to control her powers. Their parents only did the worst by locking her in. But it's been so many years, now may just be the right time to revisit an old memory lane.

As Anna locks the door to the library, darkness instantly dominated. Nothing has changed since the last time she was there.

It brought her back gleeful memories, sending her nothing but tears and a prickly sensation within her chest. She soon fell to her knees and breaks down. Everywhere she looks she sees nothing but the figments of their family of the past events.

Back when everything was still normal.

Her emotions got tangled, and it prevented her from thinking straight. A mixture of bitterness, anger, jealousy, and longing, drove the princess toward insanity. Her loud outburst echoed in the four corners of the library. But the walls of the room could not contain her suffering for her wails of agony and misery reached everyone in the castle. Anna's thunderously wild outburst was followed by loud sounds of broken things.

Elsa who was peacefully admiring another man in their basement heard her sister's screams and hinted immediately that something was wrong. The queen scurries back upstairs in haste, having relieved her supposed-to-be next victim.

"Anna! Anna, open this door this instant!" she demanded upon reaching the library.

"Anna! Open this door!" She banged the wooden door but it was unheard, muted by the loud crashes inside.

"Fine then!"

Elsa stands back and was about to freeze the door when Gerda comes rushing to her, behind her were Kristoff and Kai.

"Your Majesty, wait I have the key!"

Gerda inserts the key with a trembling hand and successfully opens the door. The four of them gasped in horror at the present state of the library. What greeted them was the chaos that Princess Anna had created. Every single piece of furniture was down and broken, the bookshelves collided with the floor, and books were scattered, broken pieces of glass were also present anywhere along with traces of blood.

"What happened here?" Kristoff softly utters.

"My sister happened."

Elsa cautiously takes a pace inside to avoid the shards of glass and the others followed her from behind. They followed the sound coming from the corner. There they saw Anna repeatedly pummeling their family portrait using a wooden chair.

The portrait was torn and smashed to bits and the exertion of Anna's force had caused the chair to lose at least two of its legs. They were shocked to see the princess' state--- except for Elsa. Instead, she turns to them.

"Leave us be."

Kristoff protested, "But, Elsa---" she cuts him off.

"You will only make things worse."

Gerda lowered her head in agreement while Kai gently drags Kristoff away.

When Elsa was assured that they're alone, she finally calls out for Anna's attention.

"Are you done now?"

She was ignored. Anna continued to smash the portrait until it was unrecognizable. With one last blow, she bellowed in anger and bashed the chair, causing it to crack into many pieces; even Elsa was baffled by this possibility.

Satisfied, Anna drops the remnants of the chair. And when she turns around, Elsa nearly staggered back in fear at the sight of her sister.

"A-Anna, a-are you alright?"

The tear that fell on Anna's eyes turned red as it glided down her cheek. Elsa was too stunned to move. She only did so when Anna lost her strength and collapsed and she caught her before she fell on the floor.

"What happened to you?" Elsa softly muttered.

She scrutinized her sister's body and noticed the blood leaking from the cracks of both her arms. Are these wounds?

Perhaps, she acquired those crack-like wounds when she thrashed the library.

ANNA REGAINED HER consciousness inside Elsa's room. She gently rose and instinctively looks for her sister. She found her beside the bed, smiling at her.

"Are you feeling better now?" Elsa softly asks.

Anna pondered for a moment as she recalls what happened earlier. She was feeling so down; she lamented and wreaked havoc inside their library. I hope nobody saw me. But that seems to contradict her situation knowing that she woke up in her sister's room. Who carried her there? Elsa answered that question as though she read her thoughts.

"Kristoff carried you here when you fell unconscious. How are you feeling now?"

"Was there someone else in the library aside from you and Kristoff?" she inquired instead.

"No. Just Gerda and Kai, but I asked them to leave us alone. So eventually, it was only just you and me."

Anna thoughtfully nodded her head. "I see. And did you see something unusual?" her voice turned to a whisper at her last words.

Elsa pressed her lips as she begins to process the information in her head. Thirteen long years indeed deprived them of knowing each other very much. She sighed.

"When you were trashing the library, you wrecked almost everything inside," she answered instead, ignoring Anna's question. "Apparently, your outburst gave us a good thing."

Anna scoffed with violence to express her sarcasm. "Do tell."

"When you overturned the shelves, you accidentally unraveled a secret door behind it."

|||

Voxciera

Frozen Heart (Dark Side of Fairytales Collaboration)Where stories live. Discover now