The Enchantress and The Storyteller (A Elsa x Eugene story)

To Thaw a Frozen Heart

(The Kingdom of Corona, 1831)

"Mama, are we there yet?" the copper-haired girl ungraciously asked, for fifth time in the last two hours. This earned her a slight look of irritation from her mother, Queen Iðunn, but one that quickly passed.

"For the last time, Anna dear... we are almost there. Please, be patient. You'll be able to see your Aunt Primrose very soon, I promise." The Queen assured, her voice soft but sure, as it always seemed to be.

"Alright..." the little girl sighed, folding her arms and looking dejected. Her older sister, sitting across from her, gave her a quick look of sympathy before turning her attention back to the window.

Elsa couldn't blame her sister for her frustration, she certainly wasn't enjoying this hours long ride in this stuffy carriage either, and for such an energetic and active girl like her little sister, she was sure this wait must have been nothing short of unbearable. But she, on the other hand, she had grown used to this. Being locked away and cooped up, almost every day. She watched as the snowflakes twirled and danced outside her window, appreciating their beauty. It was almost as though every snowflake had a life of it's own, every one beautiful in it's own way, with it's own special and unique pattern.

Her father, Agðar, looked to his eldest daughter, giving her a faint smile. "We're almost there, now." the King spoke softly. Elsa's head turned, her attention reluctantly turned away from the beautiful snow falling outside.

"Your aunt Primrose has been writing us so much, wanting to see you and Anna... I think she's missed you both." the King spoke with a good-hearted chuckle.

"We've missed her too, Papa." the blonde haired girl murmured, her azure eyes looking passingly to her father before looking down to the floor. 

 As much as she wanted to see her Aunt and her Uncle Thomas as well, she had already started feeling anxious and apprehensive. What if something happened? What if she accidentally lost control? What if she hurt them like she had hurt Anna? A shiver ran through her as the fear started to grow inside, and soon enough, the tips of her gloves started to become cold.

Agðar recognized what was happening almost immediately, he had seen this happen with his daughter dozens of times over the last few years. He gave her a look of concern, and the girl snapped out of her anxiety-filled trance for a moment and looked down at her gloves in shock.

The tips of her gloves had become covered with a thin layer of ice.

"Conceal it, Elsa." Agðar spoke soft and low, trying to calm his daughter.

Elsa took a deep breath, trying to take control of her emotions. "Don't feel it..." the frost on her gloves started to melt down now, her father's words soothing her. "Don't let it show."

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A tall young man about 15 years of age wandered down the torn up cobblestone street towards the entrance of a dilapidated orphanage , a heavy looking cloth bag in tow. Some young orphans in dirty, patched up, and worn rags noticed him right away and ran to him excitedly.

"Flynn, Flynn!" the little ones called out to him, and some of the very young ones ran to give him a hug. The children were clearly quite happy to see him.

"Hey, don't be wearing out my name now!" the older orphan chuckled, his face cracking into a big grin.

"Flynn, can you read us the story?" a little boy with shaggy hair and a chipped tooth asked excitedly, tugging at the teen's shirt.

"Yeah, read us the story Flynn!" the other children chimed in excitedly.

"Sure, I don't see why not." the brunette replied with a shrug. The children loved it when he read them his own childhood favorite, "The Tales of Flynnigan Rider", the story of a handsome and wealthy swashbuckler whom adventure followed wherever he went. The children had actually started calling him 'Flynn' because he read them the story to them so often.

In reality, though, his name wasn't actually 'Flynn' at all. His name was really Eugene Fitzherbert, and he absolutely hated it. It was the name the orphanage had given him, and the 'fitz' part of his surname was the one given to all the bastard children in the orphanage. Besides, who wouldn't want to be like Flynnigan Rider? He was rich, handsome, a swashbuckler... everything Eugene had dreamed of being for years, every since he had first picked up that book.

A few moments later, the children sat around him in a circle, and Eugene took out the old, slightly worn-looking book and started to read. He turned to a chapter near the middle of the book and started to read.

"One day after another adventure, our brave hero, the swashbuckler Flynnigan Rider came across a small village. The village was covered with ice, and there was a blizzard even though it was the middle of summer. Flynnigan Rider asked the village what was happening, and they told him that a wicked enchantress had cursed their village."

The children gasped, but Flynn just smiled and kept reading on.

"So, Flynnigan Rider went to the mountains where the villagers said the witch lived. He expected her to be an ugly hag, but when he saw the enchantress, he was shocked to discover she was really beautiful..."

"The witch actually wasn't a monster at all... she was a Princess who had been cursed at birth, her heart was frozen by an evil witch.  The young Enchantress had lived her life shunned by her own people and frightened of her powers. The enchantress had cursed the village out of anger and spite, wanting others to feel as misrable as she was.  But she had begun to feel ashamed that she had caused the eternal winter and cursed the village, which was why she had ran to the mountain to hide, for she didn't know how to reverse the spell."

"Flynnigan stayed with the witch for a few months, and eventually he and the lovely enchantress fell in love.  He told her that he would always love her. Flynnigan showed he wasn't afraid of her, and this warmed the enchantress 's cold heart for the first time in her whole life, because it was the first time someone had ever shown her true love, instead of  fleeing or calling her a monster."

Eugene paused a moment, feeling this effect him in way he couldn't understand. He wasn't sure why this effected him so strongly, but he shook the odd feeling and kept on reading.

"Suddenly, the witch's Frozen Heart melted, and she became a Princess once more, and she thanked the swashbuckler.  She begged Flynnigan to stay and become her consort, but Flynnigan could not stay, even though he was tempted to.  Summer returned to the village, and so Flynnigan Rider left for another adventure."

The children cheered and clapped excitedly. The absolutely loved the story.

"That was the best story ever, Flynn." a little girl sighed happily, her eyes dreamy. "Do you think Flynnigan ever came back, though? He told the Princess that he loved her..."

"Well, of course." Eugene told the girl, ruffling her hair playfully. "He's a hero, he has to be chivalrous and all that good stuff, right?"

But deep inside, Eugene couldn't help but wonder if that would happen in real life, or if that was just another bit of fiction.