Palace of Ice

The heels made a soft clicking sound as the queen made her way across the frozen floor of her gleaming ice palace. Her sparkling blue dress flowed out behind her, trailing against the ice while her feet carried her towards the staircase. She climbed it slowly, taking it one step at a time.

To most, an ice staircase would seem daunting, if not seem like it was impossible to climb. But to Queen Elsa, this was easy. In a certain way, climbing around her ice palace was easier than walking around on the solid, unfrozen ground. Walking on solid ground wasn’t hard for the queen, but she knew that wasn’t where she belonged. The place where someone like her belonged was here, hidden away in the snow-covered mountains in isolation. This was better not just for her, but for everyone who had ever surrounded her.

This way, Elsa never had to hurt anyone ever again.

Climbing the last step, Elsa started her trek to one of the biggest chambers of the palace she had used her powers to create. At the end of this chamber, it held a large balcony that overlooked the mountain. The beautiful mountain blanketed by the untouched snow. She couldn’t see anything below the mountain but that didn’t matter to Elsa, her life down there was far behind her and she didn’t intend to look back.

Elsa did think back onto her life back in Arendelle. She thought back to her parents and to her younger sister, the one person she had spent her life avoiding so she could protect her. She thought back to her kingdom and her people. She thought back to how they had reacted when her powers flew out of control. Elsa would never forget the way they looked at her. They looked at her with such terror, like she was a monster.

But she wasn’t a monster… Or was she? So often, Elsa didn’t know what she would call herself.

The thoughts had made Elsa think back to the incident from her childhood – the one incident she would never forget and never forgive herself for. No matter how many times her parents had told her it wasn’t her fault, she wouldn’t believe it. They were her powers, they were hers to control. She let them hurt Anna, it was all her fault. Her powers – this godforsaken curse – had nearly taken her little sister from her and for that, she couldn’t forgive herself or forgive these powers.

But that didn’t mean she had to hate her powers. There was a point where she hated her powers; where she hated who she was. After the accident, Elsa had hidden herself away from everyone. Whenever someone tried to get close to her, she’d yell at them to leave her alone. She pushed away anyone who ever tried to care for her, but it was for the best. If they came near her, they’d get hurt. She couldn’t control this – whatever this was. No matter how much Elsa tried, the ice never stopped flowing through her body. Nothing she did was capable of stopping it; it was a storm inside of her that raged out of control.

And that’s why she was here.

She had run away not just out of fear of judgment, but also out of fear of hurting someone. Whenever she thought about using her powers around other people, the accident her little sister faced would flash through her mind and she instantly pushed away the thoughts. There was no way Elsa could ever use these powers around other people.

These powers were not capable of helping anyone; they were only capable of hurting people. Without her gloves, Elsa froze everything she touched. She didn’t see how a curse like this could ever help anyone.

The queen let out a soft sigh, walking off of the balcony she had come to stand on and retreating back into her newly crafted ice palace. She pulled the embellished ice doors closed behind her, her heels clicking on the floor and echoing off the walls of the nearly empty chamber.

Elsa couldn’t deny that she was a little lonely. Even after all the years of isolation, she still wasn’t used to it. She earned for human connection again. She yearned to be able to socialize and live like a normal person would… But Elsa wasn’t normal. She could never have the things a normal human could have. She could never have the life a normal human could have.

Looking around her palace, Elsa brushed the white locks of hair out of her face, a satisfied smile crossing her features. None of it mattered anymore; she wouldn’t allow herself to care about her past life in Arendelle any longer. This is where Elsa belonged, amongst the snow that she had grown so accustomed to. It would take some getting used to but Elsa knew she could do it. She knew that she would be happy here. For here in this ice palace, she was finally free.

She was free to use her powers without hurting anyone. She was free to be herself without judgment. She was free to be the Ice Queen.