Prompt: I was inspired by bstormhands' drabble, entitled Marshmallow Defeated.
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen, nor do I claim to own it, or any of the characters from it.
Trigger Warning: Major character death in this one. Sorry to start you out with such a... shock.
Elsa panted as she glared at the man in uniform in front of her, keeping her hands at the ready to defend herself. She knew there had been something about that Prince Hans that had unsettled her from the very beginning.
"Queen Elsa, please, it doesn't have to be this way!" Hans held a spear in front of himself, watching the Snow Queen's every move intently.
"You come to my ice palace, attack my sentinel, and come after me, and then tell me that it doesn't have to be this way." She scoffed, waving a hand and pinning a guard to the wall as he charged her, being very careful not to harm him. "I'm afraid you and I both know that you have other plans." She waved her other hand as more guards attacked, pinning each of them by the jacket, as well, before flicking her wrist, causing a doorway to appear in the thick wall of ice, through which she took her leave, attempting to throw Hans off and lose him.
Her actions proved to be for naught as she turned a corner and found herself face-to-face once again with the prince. She turned to go back from where she had come, but in her shock, she had inadvertently froze the wall shut. She turned back to face the prince, keeping her calm and holding her head high, even as he cornered her, his spear pointed at her heart.
"Give up, Queen Elsa. You're cornered. I win. Game over." He smirked triumphantly.
Elsa slowly held her hands up, reverting back into a defensive stance. "Cockiness never won anyone anything."
"Perhaps not. But I have managed to win your sister's heart, and that's all I need for my plans."
Elsa raised an eyebrow, but nothing more. He was only trying to get to her, and she wasn't going to give in that easily.
"Yes, Anna and I are still engaged and set on getting married, despite your disapproval." His smirk darkened into something much more evil. "All she wanted was your approval, just for you to notice her even. The night you left, she cried. She came to the conclusion that you didn't care about her anymore." He was lying through his teeth, but Elsa didn't need to know that.
Elsa felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. That couldn't be true. Anna surely must know that she cared so much for her. Everything she had done, she had done for Anna. To keep her safe, so she couldn't hurt her again. To make her happy. The slight smirk she had been wearing fell as her eyes filled with tears.
Hans smirked, immediately noticing her change in demeanor."And she decided that if youdidn't care for her anymore, then why should she care for you." He waited for her reaction with a smug smirk.
Elsa shook her head as a single tear trailed down her cheek, freezing halfway down. "You're lying!" she choked out, her guard falling as her arms fell to her side. He had to be lying. Anna would never be like that.
"If I were lying, I wouldn't have heard Anna herself say that she hated you and never wanted to see you again." Hans watched as the Snow Queen's head fell, a single shaky sob escaping before she regained her composure and looked back up at him. He could see the look in her eyes. She was a broken woman. He had won.
"If what you say is true, then you have my word that I will not fight against you any longer." She closed her eyes. "Whatever it is that you want me to do, I will comply."
"Perfect." Hans put a firm hand on her shoulder, pushing her in front of him as they began to walk, keeping his spear pressed against the middle of her back, just in case she tried anything. They walked out to the balcony, and Hans stopped her. "Can you release my men from here?"
Elsa nodded silently, closed her eyes, and slowly raised a hand. Within minutes, the guards had all found their way back to the balcony. At Hans' command, two of them were quick to each take an arm, restraining Elsa as Hans paced in front of her. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a roar. Everyone looked over as Marshmallow appeared at the bottom of the stairs, growling fiercely.
"Tell him to stand down," Hans commanded, pointing the spear at Elsa once again.
"Marshmallow, stand down, please. You have my word, I won't harm anyone." Hans watched, slightly confused by the nature of her words, as Elsa looked directly at Marshmallow, who stared back silently for a while before nodding and staying where he was.
"Now then. What to do with Queen Elsa. The Snow Queen." Hans began to pace in front of her again. "Your winter has threatened everyone in the kingdom, you ran from your throne. One could almost call what you've done an act of treason. And surely you know what the penalty for treason is."
Elsa took a deep breath and looked up at the prince in front of her. "But you were going to kill me today, regardless of this so-called act of treason. Just get it over with. End me." She looked back down at the ground. "End my pain."
Hans only smirked in response. "Call your sentinel up here. Now."
Elsa looked up, confused and alarmed. "You just had me silence him, and now you want him up here. Why?" She was a little afraid to ask.
Hans pressed the spear against her neck, effectively silencing her as a trickle of blood ran down her pale skin. "He's going to watch his creator perish."
Elsa's eyes grew wide. She had always regarded Marshmallow as if he were her own child. She had, after all, made him. And for the first time in her life, she begged. "No! Please! He's just a baby, he won't understand, please!" She fell to her knees. "Please…"
"Men, bring him up here!" Hans commanded, and the guards began to yell at Marshmallow, pointing their spears at him and jabbing at him, only angering him more than he already had been.
"Please…" Elsa had begun to weep. "He's just a baby… This isn't his fight, please, don't make him watch… He's just a baby…"
Marshmallow's roars began to echo around the ice palace as he fought against the guards. As more guards ran over to join the fight, the two that were restraining Elsa became distracted, and their grips loosened. Elsa took her chance and broke free, running away and towards the balcony.
"Stop her!" came Hans voice from somewhere behind her.
There was a sound of a crossbow firing, the thwip of an arrow sailing through the air. As Elsa leaped over the balcony railing, she heard the sound of flesh tearing, became aware of a searing pain in her back, and then her chest almost immediately afterward, but her only focus was getting to Marshmallow.
She landed on the hard ice with a dull thump, motionless as she gasped and panted for breath, blood slowly starting to pool around her. She looked up, vision hazy and blurry, as she tried to make something out, anything. Slowly, she realized that Marshmallow stood in front of her. With a single swipe of his arm, all of the guards were sent flying backwards, and he bounded to Elsa.
"Mama?" he asked, his deep, gruff voice edged with an uncharacteristic sadness and confusion. With hands that seemed far too gentle for such a giant creature, he scooped Elsa up, carefully cradling her in one hand.
Elsa looked up at him and gave him the best, weakest smile she could manage. "It's nothing, Marshmallow. Mama's okay." But she knew that by now even he had to know that that wasn't the case. She was losing far too much blood. She knew she was dying.
There was silence as Elsa looked up at him before the echo of footsteps sounded above them.
"Leave her. She won't last more than a few minutes more, at most." Hans' voice rang clear in the quiet, and the sound of marching footsteps slowly faded down the mountain.
Elsa looked down at her chest. The very tip of the arrow was protruding, and blood stained most of the front of her dress. She knew it should hurt, that she should be feeling pain, but she was just tired. So very tired.
"Mama?" Marshmallow's unusually quiet, grumbly voice brought Elsa out of her daze, and she looked up with another weak smile.
"My sweet little Marshmallow…" she said softly, weakly raising a hand to rest on one of his massive claws. "You be a good boy for mama while I'm gone, okay?" Her words had begun to slur together tiredly.
"Mama?" Marshmallow tilted his head and brought down a claw to gently nudge her cheek, eliciting a small, tired laugh from Elsa.
"You were always such a sweetheart… But so misunderstood…" She let her eyes slide closed, too tired to keep them open any longer. "Thank you for keeping everyone safe for me…" She rested her head back against his palm, her breathing slowing now.
There was a long, still silence on the peak of the North Mountain as Marshmallow watched as his mama took her last breaths, becoming still as he cradled her in his palm.
"…Mama?" he growled after a while. He nudged her cheek gently once again, frowning and letting out a gruff whimper when he got no response.
Not long after that, as Hans and his men marched down the mountain, the sound of a loud, heartbroken roar could be heard in the distance.