Prompt: Elsa somehow (curse, spell, etc) temporarily loses her powers and has to cope with being “normal”
(I’ve read lots of fanfics where Elsa suddenly loses her powers and I love all of them, but there’s something I never read and I always wondered… apart from the raw panic, how disoriented would she feel?)
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“Here, I brought you some herbal tea.”
Honeymaren knew that Elsa wasn’t getting cold - she had the worst cold experience ever in Ahtohallan anyway, and this was nothing compared to it - and mostly brought the tea to appease her.
Elsa was curled on herself on the bed of the hut, and lifted her arm in a low gesture when she took Honeymaren’s mug. After a panic attack the hour before, Elsa now was staring down at the woollen rug.
“Are you okay?” Worried the Northuldra.
The blonde chuckled nervously. Of course she wasn’t, thought Honeymaren, but she had to ask. She sat next to her.
“Anna is going to arrive in a few hours. Gale did their best to deliver my message, and I’m certain that they’ll basically swoop her up and bring her directly here through the air.” Reassured the brunette. “In the meantime, maybe we can talk? Come on, I need you to tell me…”
She put a caring hand on Elsa’s shoulder.
“…How do you feel?“
“Terrible.” Muttered the blonde. “In a weird way”, she added after a few seconds, in a clearer voice.
She slowly unfolded her legs, but was still curled on herself.
“It’s like… A part of me is missing.” She said, looking at her fingers, folding and unfolding them.
The Northuldra nodded. “I can easily imagine.”
She winced. “I mean, I can’t. I can’t imagine. That must be a very specific sensation. But I suppose that you feel like you’re incomplete.”
“Exactly.” Sighed Elsa. “Well, it’s even like… One of my senses is gone.”
Honeymaren worried. “Did you lose one of your five senses? Or was it like a sixth one?”
Elsa smiled, touched by her concern, and actually considering the question. She squinted and bent her head, analysing what she was feeling. “Hmmm, no, it’s more like… Something you always had, and miss a lot when it’s gone, you know what I mean? Like, when you hurt at a thumb and you can’t use it anymore. Though it’s not actually painful. And it’s constant, not just physical.”
Honeymaren snorted. “Yeah, okay, now I get it.”
Elsa slowly repositioned herself on the bed, but looked impossibly uncomfortable as she did. It was like she found her entire body strange, dull, even alien.
“To think that only four years ago, I would have given anything to be in this situation. To get rid of my magic.”
Honeymaren stared at her in sadness, but also outrage. ‘How could she even think that??’
Nevertheless, she knew Elsa’s past, for she had told her about her painful childhood. And how she was scared of her magic. Now she fully embraced it and never was more proud of it in her entire life, so the contrast was breathtaking.
“You should drink, or the tea is going to get cold.” Advised the Northuldra, to change the topic. “Yelana’s brews are awesome, but disgusting when cold.”
Elsa smiled, and Honeymaren was happy to see that sadness left her face again.
“I know. But I used to cool it down a bit with my hands, and now it’s very hot.”
“Oh. Wait, all that time, you drank it lukewarm?”
“No, more like, between lukewarm and hot. That’s the perfect temperature.”
Honeymaren chuckled.
“Let me blow on it then. I can work my little magic as well.”
She bent to cool the beverage down with her breath. Elsa smiled softly. “Thank you so much for taking care of me. It’s awkward, but nice.”
“You’re very welcome.” Grinned the Northuldra.
Elsa slowly drank the tea, and couldn’t hold a shiver when she the heat came down her throat. She gulped and sneezed.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologise, your body’s probably just adapting.”
“Well, at least I don’t sneeze snowgies. That’s a start.”
Honeymaren laughed. “True!”
She looked around and was happy to see that for once, the little creatures were nowhere to be seen, and that she didn’t need to prevent them from making a mess, especially in a hut.
Elsa sniffed, touching her nose. Her skin there was cold. “Waow. This is truly weird.”
“Do you want a blanket? There’s a very warm one folded somewhere…” Suggested Honeymaren, opening one of the wooden chests.
“Good idea.”
She was only wearing one layer of clothing, a tunic dress offered by a Northuldra who had sewed it for her long ago, and which she promptly ran to and put on when she woke up naked in the morning. Her ice outfit had completely melted, and she had never felt more ashamed and disoriented.
Soon maybe she would see her breathing appear in a cloud if she stepped outside, and she wasn’t psychologically ready to see that again. Visions of what happened when she last did were printed in her mind.
She clenched her eyes shut, and Honeymaren noticed it. “Hey. Give yourself a break. Things are okay. You’re still conscious, you’re safe, and we’re all here for you if you need us.”
Elsa nodded, and finished drinking her tea in silence. She owed so much to the Northuldra people, and promised herself to thank them once all of this would be over. If it was even returning to normal one day. What was normal? Was being magic her normal? Her, who always has been so different?
“I can see you overthinking.” Pointed Honeymaren, who could almost see the gears turning above Elsa’s head.
“I can’t help it.” Murmured Elsa. “And I still can’t find a way to describe what I feel since this morning, it’s really bugging me.”
She was so quiet, Honeymaren had to bent to hear her.
“Is it maybe… Inner ear deficiency? A psychological imbalance?” Muttered Elsa, her head tilting.
“What are you mumbling about?” Laughed the brunette.
“N’thing.”
“Was that theory mumbling?”
Elsa sighed. “Science is complicated.”
“What? You, nerdy blondie, saying that science is complicated?”
Honeymaren laughed, and shook her head with an eye-roll.
“Elsa?”
“Hmm?” She answered in a lost voice, that sounded almost drowsy.
“You’re not yourself when you’re not icy.”
Elsa snorted. “Okay.”
“I’m gonna get you another mug.”
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(This was interesting to write… Maybe to be continued… :P)
