❄️ queen elsa ❄️ (intotheunknown) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2020-01-05 16:19:00 |
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Maeve wasn't one to stop moving very often. She always had something to do, some project that needed working on, or somewhere to be. Keeping a full schedule helped her feel in control of her life. So the fact that she'd actually been enjoying a lazy Sunday for once was a bit out of character for her. She blamed it on the holidays. She'd loved spending her break from school with Duncan and Dottie, and Mo had surprised them all by actually showing up to spend time with them on both Thanksgiving and Christmas. It all felt so nice and she was just genuinely in a good mood. Which may have been why she let her guard down a bit and decided to enjoy a Sunday to herself. No obligations and no worries about the upcoming week. She had her dorm room to herself, and spent the morning lounging in her PJs and slippers, wrapped up in blankets, and reading some of the new books she'd gotten for Christmas. Later on, she watched re-runs of Queer Eye while doodling in her notebooks and humming. She wasn't sure if it was the laziness of the day, or the fact that she was so cozy and comfy...but for whatever reason, Maeve decided to lay down for a brief nap as the afternoon arrived. As she drifted off to sleep wrapped up in her favorite blue blanket, she found herself slipping back into one of Elsa's memories. It was the day of her Coronation and Elsa was riddled with nerves. While Anna bounced around the palace in giddy delight, she was locked away in her bedroom trying desperately to keep her fears under control. She was dressed immaculately in her coronation gown, a task that had taken three times longer as she had fidgeted and fussed with everything from her shoes to her hairpins. In truth, it was a distraction technique. When she was focused on getting dressed, she couldn't be dreaming up a thousand ways her emotions...and her powers might betray her. Once dressed and with nothing else to occupy her, Elsa looked out across Arendalle from the safety of her bedroom. "Don't let them in, don't let them see. Be the good girl you always have to be. Conceal, don't feel. Put on a show. Make one wrong move and everyone will know." She'd been practicing for the coronation with a candlestick and a jewelry box. With her gloves laid neatly aside on the dresser, Elsa picked them up and watched in dismay as ice quickly began to encase them. Heart aching, she set them aside and stared at the hands that had betrayed her. "But it's only for today. It's agony to wait. Tell the guards to open up the gate!" -- The choir's voices filled the chapel with beautiful, otherworldly music. If this were any other day, Elsa would have loved the sound. Today, though, she was focused only on keeping her emotions concealed and making it through the coronation. Her breath shallow with fear, Elsa leaned forward to allow the crown to be placed on her head. Slowly she began to tug the gloves off her her hands, feeling vulnerable and unprotected as she did so. Her hands shook as she reached to take a hold of her scepter. It was cool to the touch and Elsa held her breath as she turned to face the audience of witnesses. The scepter grew even colder in her hands and she began to panic at the sight of ice beginning to cover the surface of the gold. She held her breath and prayed desperately that no one would notice. The moment the words "Queen Elsa of Arendelle" were pronounced, she hurriedly put them down and reached once more for her gloves. She'd made it. The tiniest hint of a small turned up the edges of her mouth as the crowd applauded her. -- Later that evening at the ball, Elsa was still tense at being surrounded by so many people, but was feeling at least marginally more at ease now that the difficult part was past. Or at least, she had been up until her conversation with Anna. She saw how Anna lit up during the party and Elsa desperately wanted to continue to give things like this to her sister. But she just couldn't. It was too dangerous. For her, for Anna, for everyone. No, they would have to go back to the way things were. She made that very clear to her little sister before Anna excused herself. Elsa had thought the matter settled, and was not prepared in the slightest for Anna to turn up later that evening to ask her permission to get married. To someone she had just met. Elsa's face twisted in confusion as she tried to process what was happening. "Wait. Slow down. No one's brothers are staying here. No one is getting married. You can't marry a man you just met." "You can if it's true love." "Anna, what do you know of true love?" "More than you. All you know is how to shut people out." Elsa's eyes widened with hurt. She could feel a lump of emotion rising in her chest, and did her best to quash it down. She couldn't get upset here. Not with so many people around. It would be a disaster. She took a deep breath and tried once more to remain calm. "You asked for my blessing, but my answer is no. Now, excuse me. The party is over. Close the gates." Elsa was very near tears and the anxiety of the day had left her exhausted. It was becoming harder and harder to keep her powers under control. When Anna raced after her and pulled off one of her gloves, Elsa felt her walls begin to fracture even further. "Give me my glove!" "Elsa, please! Please! I can't live like this anymore." Completely drained and heartbroken, Elsa said something she would come to deeply regret. "Then leave." She turned and began to walk away as her little sister continued to yell at her retreating back. Elsa loved Anna, that would never be in question. But she'd never understand, she couldn't. This was all being done to protect her. As she continued to wheedle at Elsa, her emotions boiled over and that last of her control shattered. "I said ENOUGH." Elsa turned back to face Anna and ice erupted from her still ungloved hand. It grew in a dangerous arc around her with wickedly sharp spikes of ice that faced outward. A physical barrier to keep Anna and the rest of the world away from her. Elsa stared at it in horror. What had she done? She had to get out. With her gloved hand, she grasped for the door handle and fled. She burst through the front doors of the palace only to be faced with a dense crowd of her people waiting for her. They were all kind and good, but by that time, Elsa was in a full on panic as she tried to stumble her way through them. Her heart was racing and she couldn't breathe. There were too many people. Too many sounds. She wanted to drop to the ground and sob. "Your majesty, are you all right?" Elsa, unable to speak, stumbled backward against a fountain which froze over completely. Now all of Arendelle knew how dangerous she was. "There she is! Stop her!" The Duke of Weasleton shouted from the palace steps. "Please," she begged. "Just stay away from me. Just stay away!" Another blast of ice shot toward the steps and the Duke. "Monster! Monster!" He said the words out loud that she'd always felt in her heart. She was a monster. A fact only made clearer by the people now recoiling from her. Elsa had no other choice. As the crowd drew away from her- she ran. As she did, ice began to blossom out from every step she took. The fjord was frozen solid in a matter of seconds. Clouds gathered in the sky and snow began to fall. In a matter of hours, Arendelle would be blanketed in deep snow. Maeve woke up then with a jerk. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her heart was thundering just as loud as Elsa's had been. Her breaths were shallow and she couldn't get enough air. Crying and feeling the full shock of the anxiety attack that had consumed her, Maeve stumbled out of the bed and over to her dorm window. Her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't unlock it straight away. She continued to sob as she struggled with the latch until it finally slipped free. At last she was able to throw the window open. As she did, Maeve watched in utter horror as blasts of ice - Elsa's magic - burst from her own hands and encased a nearby tree in ice. "No," she moaned as tears still streamed down her face. "No, no no." It wouldn't stop it, though. As she looked up into the sky, Maeve could already see the snow starting to fall. |