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𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐕: 𝐀 𝐆𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓
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57 | A PROPHECY FORETOLD
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12 YEARS BEFORE THE PRESENT DAY

    "WHAT is this game? What on Earth are you two playing?" An eleven-year-old Soren scrunched his brows as his younger sister and cousin played together on the pier of the castle.

He had been practicing swordsmanship, the young boy fighting no one but the air. However, his steps were perfect — he would grow to be a talented swordsman, yet his sister would surpass them as they all age.

Soren broke upon hearing them both giggling about Queen Merida's oldest son, Prince Alastair. He was about Sitara's age with eyes greener than the forest. Little Winterfell was teasing her older cousin about Alaric, saying how "dreamy" his eyes were to Sitara.

Alaric took after his mother in the sense that he was a gifted wielder of the bow and arrow even at his young age. He and Sitara seemed to get on well at the recent royalty gathering in Auradon both were stubborn and did not like to abide by the rules.

Sitara gagged when her little five-year-old cousin said that, but Winterfell made it even worse by creating a life-sized ice replica of the young prince. Alaric was nine, just a year older than Sitara.

The talk had caught Soren's attention, the eleven-year-old disgusted but also slightly protective at the thought of his younger sister having a crush. He was even more baffled when he turned and saw the ice sculpture of Prince Alaric on the wooden floorboards of the pier.

"We're playing — Sitara gets married to Prince Alaric and becomes Queen of Stone Hedge Kingdom!" Winterfell answered happily, her pigtails bouncing with her dramatics.

Winter's hair was quite long and fell to her midback even when pulled up in pigtails. With those words, she thrust her hand out and used the wind to forcibly push the ice sculpture toward Sitara. The red-haired princess screeched before running away with a giggle.

"How about you marry Prince Marcellus instead?" She questioned through her laughter as Winter stopped pushing the sculpture to gag herself.

Prince Marcellus was the youngest of Merida's three children. Prince Alaric was the oldest, followed by her twins who were three years younger than he — Prince Marcellus and Princess Marissa.

They were both Winterfell's age. However, both were rather brutish and annoying in her opinion, especially Marcellus. His hair was bright orange and gross-looking freckles dotted his pale face. At least Prince Alaric was attractive.

The Stone Hedge Kingdom was one of the closer kingdoms to Arendelle. It was only about three hours away on horseback.

"I will never marry such a stinky-looking Prince!" Winter cried in disdain causing Sitara to burst out laughing, not expecting that of all things to come from the five-year-old.

"YAH!"

Their laughter was cut short as Soren surged forward and thrust his sword through the already melting ice sculpture of Prince Alaric. It was a hot summer's day and ice did not last long in this temperature.

"Anyone who wishes to marry my sister or cousin will need to go through me!" Soren proclaimed proudly as Winter only yelled in anger at her destroyed replica.

It had been so perfect.

"What's this about marriage?" Queen Elsa asked as she, Jack, Anna, and Kristoff made their way to the side pier where the kids had been playing for the last hour.

Well ... it was more like Sitara and Winterfell playing while Soren was tasked with watching them. He had been practicing out of boredom.

Winterfell frowned but turned away from her destroyed sculpture to her approaching parents and aunt and uncle.

"Sitara was going to marry Prince Alaric, but Soren destroyed him," she pouted while crossing her arms.

Sitara stuck her tongue out at the destroyed ice. "And good riddance — I'm not going to marry some prince, I'm going to marry a tattooed biker!"

"Sitara!" Both Anna and Kristoff cried with indignation at their eight-year-old.

Jack only burst out in hard laughter while Elsa slapped his shoulder with a shake of her head. "Not helping," she had muttered.

Jack shrugged, the four people have now made it to where the kids were. He allowed himself to fly in the air slightly landing on the destroyed ice. He crouched down while observing it and holding twinetender in his grasp.

He could see the sparkles of magic that it emitted as it melted through the floorboards of the pier and into the ocean.

"I hope you realize not to destroy other types of ice — it is my business, after all, son," Kristoff clicked his tongue to Soren who sighed and picked his sword up to begin practicing his form once more.

Anna was quick to begin making small corrections to his stance with Sitara studying them closely.

Jack grunted as a weight was suddenly placed on his back, the small child that he called his own dramatically flung herself on her father. The Winter King's eyes widened in surprise as he almost lost balance.

Elsa laughed at this.

Their daughter was the only one actually ever able to sneak up on Jack.

"And what do you think you're doing talking about marriage so young, snowflake?" Jack questioned, and in an instant, Winterfell was screaming and laughing as Jack stood up holding his daughter upside down with his right arm.

The other still held twinetender over his shoulder casually — the man tapping his foot in mock impatience. Elsa shook her head at his overprotectiveness. It was hard to believe that Jack had ever been fearful of having a child with how much he adored her.

Winter's long pigtails dangled almost touching the ground and Elsa figured a haircut was probably in order.

Winterfell caught sight of her father's feet seeing that he had on a pair of shoes. She hollered in loud laughter, reaching upward to point at him. He rose a brow at her.

"Ha ha — mommy made you wear shoes!" She screamed as though it was the funniest thing in the world.

"Ha ha..." he mocked in a childish and high-pitched voice, swinging her up onto his shoulders.

She laughed and tugged on his hair slightly, the winter spirit groaning in pain.

"Ow, okay, ow — OW!"

In seconds the wind suddenly picked up in a flurry twirling around both Elsa and Jack. Both spirits furrowed their brows at its words, Jack taking his daughter off his shoulders and placing her on the ground.

Her brows furrowed and her head tilted to the side curiously.

"I want to see the trolls also, can I come?"

Both their heads snapped to their daughter in surprise. Thus far in their child's life, while Winterfell could control the wind she was never able to understand it.

Gale had come bringing news of Grand Pappy troll requesting to see them immediately. They could tell that it was important, especially if it was only those two — it was better that Winter stays.

Elsa nodded toward Jack before turning to Anna and Kristoff asking if they would watch Winterfell while she and Jack left for the trolls.

On the other hand, Jack knelt in front of his ever-curious daughter. She was a smart one, that was for sure and it was a trait that she no doubt developed from her mother.

"You heard what the wind spoke?" He rose a white eyebrow and Winter smiled.

She held her arms out and spun around, the wind dancing up her in all its magnificent colors. Jack puckered his lips as he noticed his daughter about to take off from the ground; however, seconds later the wind stopped and she was giggling.

Looks like it was about time to teach his daughter how to fly.

Jack stood up leaning against twinetender and ruffling her long white strands. Winterfell nuzzled into the palm of his hand as he placed it on her cheek with a smile.

"Your mother and I will return in a small while. Be good for your aunt and uncle ... and no more talk about marriage," he said the last part sternly.

Winter only laughed in response, nodding her head before skipping off toward the edge of the pier. Jack rushed forward, leaping high in the air with the assistance of the wind before landing in front of her.

"And no going near the edge of the pier — actually, why don't you go play with Olaf inside while we're gone?" He said, blocking her path to the edge.

She eyed the path behind him, smiling at the way the ocean crashed against the high stilts of the pier. She certainly loved the ocean but her parents were not all too fond of it. Elsa because her parents had died at sea and Jack simply because he preferred the sky over the ocean.

Also because he kind of drowned to death before he was resurrected as the King of Winter.

He would much rather soar through the clouds than swim the depths.

She pouted up at her father but he only raised a brow in response not budging. Although he would admit that the puppy-dog face usually got him, but not when it came to her safety.

"C'mon, cousin!" Sitara called from where she stood in the large doorway of the castle. "Soren agreed to play tag with us!" She yelled before turning and running inside.

Winter laughed before running after her cousin, waving goodbye to her father as she went. He shook his head at her, walking to where Elsa was still speaking with Anna. Kristoff had followed the kids in having a feeling they would need supervision when playing tag.

"And Gal did not mention what they needed?" Anna asked in worry and Elsa only shook her head.

"Well, hopefully, it's nothing, be safe sister, we will see you in a bit," she hugged Elsa, nodding to Jack. "Keep her safe, Frost," she raised a threatening fist and Jack only snorted.

He saluted the Queen of Arendelle, "as always, your majesty," he said the last part in a mocking tone causing Anna to roll her eyes playfully before she turned away following everyone who went inside.

"Away we go, my love," Elsa yelped as Jack handed her twinetender to hold and picked her up suddenly.

He smiled while nuzzling her head and in the next second shot off the ground. Elsa yelled and hid her face in Jack's neck, she would never get used to the feeling of flying in Jack's arms. It was not long before the two had landed in a familiar clearing.

As it was midday, the rock troll territory was in full swing with the trolls chattering about. However, it fell silent when the Winter King and Snow Queen arrived. Dust picked up into the air as Jack landed harshly, making sure to keep a tight grasp on his wife.

She shook herself off, hopping out of Jack's arms and handing him twinetender back. He gave her a mocking smile, motioning to his cheek.

"Doesn't the pilot get a thank you?"

Elsa rolled her eyes but obliged and kissed his cheek. "We could've taken horses or reindeer, you know," she tittered and Jack only shook his head.

"Your majesty," Grand Pappy troll walked up to the two, "thank you for arriving so quickly,"

"Of course," Elsa was the first to respond, nodding back in greeting.

He had the undivided attention of the King and Queen.

"What is so urgent, is everything okay?" Jack asked with a rare worry in his tone.

Despite his fun nature, he knew that whatever the trolls needed was serious. It was apparent in the way that the wind had approached them.

"I have been gifted a vision of future happenings — it is vital that you two are aware of this..." he explained and Elsa's face scrunched into confusion.

She and Jack shared a worried look. The last time a vision had been gifted was when Elsa visited the trolls and they told her that she was pregnant with Winterfell. And the time before that had been years before regarding the Enchanted Forest.

"What is the vision about?" She asked, and she knew the silence from the rest of the rock troll tribe was not good.

His eyes closed with focus as he brought his hands up, and suddenly — the world around exploded in colors of purple and blue magic. Like all the times that Grand Pappy had shared visions, it took form as shapes made of magic in the air.

"Your daughter — Winterfell Frost," both of them held their breaths, and grabbed onto each other, "she is powerful in her own. Made out of love from you two, and her magic reflects the creation of both the Winter King and Snow Queen..."

The magic figure was of Winterfell, she was the same age as she is now. A small child playing with magic and spinning around. Elsa watched as magical figures of her and Jack approached Winterfell and she happily trotted up to them. Jack picked her up with one arm and held Elsa to his side with his other.

The magical shaping of their small family was beautiful.

"The Ice Princess shall indeed grow with independence, beauty, and a wisdom far beyond her years... her abilities will grow even more powerful the older she becomes... she would grace this realm as a powerful protector as you two do..."

And the magic changed as the vision did, and an older version of Winterfell stood as a shadow of magic. Her hair is long, and the figure stood proudly while using her magic.

Elsa smiled slightly at the small look she was gifted of how her daughter would turn out, but her stomach turned as she remembered herself as a child many years ago. She stood in this same spot with her parents, right after she had accidentally hit Anna with her magic.

Grand Pabby had told her of the beauty in her gifts but also the great danger that they held.

"But..." both she and Jack stiffened at the sharpness of it.

"There are forces in this world who would do anything for power. And magical power is what makes Winterfell's life force... he wishes to steal it, to take her power for his own ... to do this would kill her in the process ..." the old troll's voice has become much deeper, his body shaking as the magic turned bright red.

Elsa gasped and fell into Jack as he watched the magical vision with horror.

Another shadowy figure suddenly joined Winterfell — the figure was male in nature with hair that fell down his shoulders and he wore some sort of cloak. The male figure yelled and shot magic at Winterfell; however, as it hit her it appeared to connect with Winterfell.

The sound of Winterfell screaming in pain met Jack and Elsa's ears. Winterfell floated into the air and was grasping at her neck, she appeared to be choking from the force of the magic. It wrapped around her before suddenly turning dark blue.

Both Jack and Elsa felt as though they had been hit with boiling water. What they were watching was their daughter being drained of her life force, depleted of her abilities. But she was not cursed with these abilities, she was born with them — it was a core part of her. She could not live without them.

Winterfell's screams became louder in the vision as the blue moved faster from Winterfell to the man.

"Should the evil warlock prevail and take Winterfell's abilities for himself..."

The vision showed Winterfell's figure dropping and disappearing, it was obvious that she was dead. The figure of the evil warlock glowed a bright red and he raised a staff in the air with a loud holler.

Red spread everywhere — thunder roared and the screams of hundreds met Jack and Elsa's ears.

"Then he would wreak havoc upon the world by calling himself King..."

And with those closing words and an image of the figure standing on a pile of bodies, the vision was over. The vision magic was gone completely and the air was as it was before. However, both Elsa and Jack were paler than normal, both looking as though they wanted to be sick.

Elsa's eyes were watering, she could never have imagined something as horrible as that. Any vision that she had been shown in the past was nothing compared to this: not the warning of her abilities when she was a child and certainly not her waking the spirits of the Enchanted Forest.

Jack's eyes hardened — he would kill anyone who thought to bring harm to his family. Not his daughter. He would fight till the death for his child.

But this was about even more than the life of his child (of course, Winterfell was really all Jack cared about) this was about the fate of the lands. Someone was after his daughter and should he prevail he would reign terror on everything.

It set off a fire in Jack Frost.

"How do we fight this?" Jack questioned the troll, his voice hard.

"The warlock must be destroyed — it will be a long brutal time, and I cannot say for sure who will come out on top. But what I can say is that the future for Winterfell, other than this, is promising. She will have a strong support system — true love will always prevail in the end, but one must know how to find it..."

Jack's right eye twitched. That was not a real answer. He hated how this troll chose to foretell a horrible and gruesome future for his daughter and yet he spoke in riddles when it came to how to fix it.

He was angry and just as he was about ready to go off, Elsa squeezed his arm. He looked down at her, his eyes softened at the broken look in her teary eyes. She only shook his head and that was enough to shut Jack up.

"Be on the lookout, it will not be long until the warlock reveals himself to you — I can sense it..."

✶✶✶✶✶✶✶✶

Elsa stood on the balcony holding Winterfell tightly in her grasp. The young girl yawned and cuddled further into her mother, her pajamas on and hair brushed out. It was quiet as they stood on the balcony of Winter's room, light snow falling.

It nearly always snowed on Ahtohallan. At least Elsa felt safe in Ahtohallan, she prayed that the secretive nature of it and the roughness that one had to go through to even find this place was strong enough that the warlock after her child could not get through.

She was not even sure what to tell Winterfell, a part of her did not want to tell her child anything until Winterfell was old enough to truly understand. Childhood was a special thing to be cherished, Winterfell should not be forced to live in fear.

Winter's balcony gave a clear view of the snow forest — it was very quiet.

Ahtohallan was nearly always quiet, seeing as it was just the three of them and the snow elves that lived in the castle there was never any hustle and bustle going on. That was saved for her sister's castle in Arendelle.

"Can you sing to me, mama?" Winterfell questioned tiredly.

Elsa tilted her head down to look into her daughter's big brown eyes. She clutched her even tighter, since having her Elsa could no longer imagine a world without her child in it. Stroking Winterfell's back, Elsa started out with a soft hum.

Naturally, Elsa had a beautiful and powerful voice, that much was known — but at this moment she kept it soft and melodic. Just as her mother once sang to her, and her mother's mother sang to her — Elsa started out gently.

"Where the Northwind meets the sea, there's a river full of memory," Elsa cuddled her even closer, "sleep my darling safe and sound for in this river all is found..."

Elsa could remember being a child herself, the many nights that her mother would sing this to her and Anna. Even after Anna forgot about her powers and they started to sleep in separate rooms.

Her mother would come to her and sing her to sleep. She needed it especially then with the loneliness that she had.

"Dive down deep into her sound," she rocked Winterfell, "but not too far or you'll be drowned..."

Winterfell had closed her eyes, her breathing beginning to even out at her mother's beautiful and comforting voice. Elsa hiked Winterfell up, slipping back into the safety of her bedroom. She nodded and Gale closed the balcony doors behind her.

Elsa made sure to lock them tightly.

"And in her song, all magic flows — but can you brave what you most fear? Can you face what the river knows?"

Elsa continued to sing softly while staring at Winterfell's bed. She looked back down to her daughter before moving past her bed and out of Winterfell's bedroom. She moved down the warm corridor.

Surprisingly enough, the castle was warm on the inside. After Winterfell was born especially, Elsa was too scared to keep it cold on the off chance that Winter maybe did not have the abilities of the cold — and so they made sure to always keep it warm now. It truly was nice though, nicer than Jack thought a warm castle would be.

"Where the Northwind meets the sea..." Jack looked up as the bedroom door opened and Elsa came in singing in that beautiful voice of hers, "there's a mother full of memory..."

She closed their bedroom door behind her and padded to their large bed before placing Winterfell down in the center of it. Jack turned to gaze at his daughter, his eyes softening immensely. He had been thinking over everything that happened earlier.

"Come, my darling, homeward bound..." Elsa moved a piece of hair out of Winterfell's face, the little girl breathing gently as she was sound asleep, "when all is lost then all is found..."

Jack leaned over and placed a chaste kiss on Winterfell's head. He felt slightly bad, normally he was in the room to help put Winterfell to sleep but he had been thinking too hard and was waiting for Elsa in their bedroom.

"I couldn't let her sleep alone tonight..." Elsa muttered after a few minutes of silence where they were both watching the child sleep peacefully, "not after what we learned earlier."

"I think I would have gone and got her if you did not bring her in," Jack laughed lightly and grasped Elsa's hand over Winter.

"What are we going to do, Jack?" Elsa asked sadly. "We can't lose her."

"And we won't," Jack said firmly, "we have armies at our dispense, nothing will touch our daughter," he said.

"Sleep well, darling — I hope that the sandman has brought you only the best of dreams with his sand tonight..." Elsa murmured in Winterfell's ear.

Elsa laid down next to Winter, Jack doing the same after blowing the candles out. They all snuggled together, both the winter spirits smothering their daughter between them before they were fast asleep with the echo of Elsa's singing ringing in all their minds.

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CONCLUSION OF INTERLUDE V
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