A/N This will be the last chapter on the boat so lot's of Helsa drama will ensue over the course of the next several chapters. It will of course be baby steps. Hans cannot simply be reformed overnight.
Warnings: None in particular.
Chapter Four
Elsa tried desperately to contain the panic in her own voice as she questioned the Arendelle guard. "Fire? But I don't understand, how did this happen?"
"All I know, Your Majesty is that the fire broke out somewhere in the cargo hold and the captain has ordered us to abandon ship. There is no need for you to worry though, we have a lifeboat ready to take you to safety."
Without hesitation, the queen immediately fired her next question. "Was anyone hurt?"
"I'm afraid I couldn't say," he replied with a hint of sincerity. "Now come quickly, we must make haste."
The queen nodded, promptly following him out into the darkened passageway. She could hardly see anything as the inky blackness cloaked everything around them. However thick smoke soon permeated her senses causing her to cough heavily as the fumes rapidly filled her lungs.
"Keep moving, but stay close to me," he instructed, leading the way.
Elsa pushed harder, lungs burning with breaths which had turned from heavy to gasping, her muscles ached from their continuing sprint along smoke-filled passageways and scrambling up steep ladders.
As they rounded the corner they were brought to a immediate halt as a wall of flames blocked their path. Lars signaled for her to stay back. "Looks like we'll need to find another way."
Elsa sighed. She truly questioned her soldiers' intelligence sometimes. Perhaps his brain had been affected by smoke inhalation that somehow he had forgotten about her ice powers. "Allow me," she said, stepping in front of the guard. With a flick of her wrist a stream of frigid ice effortlessly devoured the flames.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," he gratefully responded.
They continued onward, finally reaching the ladder leading to the top deck. Lars scrambled up first and then offered his hand to her in assistance.
Once they were on deck, chaos ensued. Elsa's eyes widened in shock at the sight before her. Bright orange flames flickered and sputtered, smoke billowed, forming large clouds which were slowly enveloping the ship. She could hear the shouts, the cries and the urgency in their voices. Heavy footsteps resonated all around her as several of the crew futilely attempted to quench the flames with buckets of water.
Ignoring the pandemonium, Lars turned to the queen. "We need to get to the port side, that is where Igor is waiting with the boat."
"Wait!" she commanded. "Perhaps I can use my powers to help."
Lars shook his head. "There is no time, Your Majesty. We're under strict instructions to get you to a lifeboat, your safety is all that matters now." He quickly seized her hand and began dragging her along. It wasn't his intention to manhandle the queen in this way, but he had a duty to protect her and if that meant he had to be a little rough with her then so be it."
Weaving in and out of the panic-stricken crew and stumbling over scattered debris, they finally made it to the lifeboat where Igor had been patiently waiting.
As they approached, he immediately turned his attention to his comrade, questioning him harshly. "Where the hell have you been? I was beginning to think something terrible had happened and you weren't going to make it."
"Well the queen and I are here now so perhaps we should get moving," Lars insisted. "The ship already looks like it's coming apart."
Igor agreed, steering the queen towards the boat. "You first, Your Majesty."
She was just about to step inside when she realized it was empty. "Where is Prince Hans?"
Igor and Lars exchanged a quick glance, before Igor shrugged indifferently. "Probably still locked up in the brig, where he belongs may I add."
Elsa's jaw clenched. "What? I thought you were supposed to be guarding him, so in that case why wasn't he released?"
"Your Majesty," Lars reasoned, grasping her shoulders. "There are bound to be casualties and fatalities during a situation such as this. You seem to forget that Prince Hans is a disgusting pervert and a sicko. I think he's already proven that when he attacked you. He doesn't deserve to be saved. "NOW. GET. IN. THE. BOAT."
Elsa knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "Are you saying I should let him burn to death? Or drown when the ship finally sinks? No, I can't do that. I am not cold and heartless."
Lars gave her a stern look. "Your Majesty, it is our sworn duty to protect you at all costs. So if that means I have to carry you into the boat kicking and screaming then that is what I'm prepared to do."
Slowly she backed away. "I'm sorry, but I am not leaving without the prisoner. He may have committed terrible crimes and his soul might be wicked, but I will not allow him to die needlessly."
"Your Majesty, stop!" Lars started after her when another explosion tore across the deck. The two guards unfortunately took the full brunt of the force. Igor was catapulted over the side of the ship, screaming as he plummeted into the murky depths below, whilst Lars was thrown backwards onto a piece of splintered wood.
Elsa attempted to steady herself, but after a second violent jolt she too was tossed to the deck like a rag doll. Broken pieces of wood jabbed into her back and her leg was bent beneath her at an unnatural angle.
Grimacing, she pulled out her leg, gasping in pain as she attempted to straighten it. The physical discomfort was agonizing, yet thankfully upon closer observation it didn't appear to be broken. Next she looked around frantically, calling out, "Lars! Igor!"
"Urgh!"
Elsa instantly stiffened upon hearing the sound of low groan close by. After fumbling around for several moments she drew in a sharp breath when she saw Lars slumped against the side of the ship, a jagged piece of wood protruding from his chest.
As she scooted across, her gaze locked solely on the fallen soldier. "Oh no, Lars!"
"Y...Your Majesty, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but you... you're hurt," Elsa said, fear evident in her voice.
He abruptly began to cough violently, blood dribbling from his mouth. "I'm afraid this is the end for me."
"What? No, don't say that," Elsa murmured, desperately, already feeling the tears stinging her eyes. "We just need to get you back to Arendelle. Dr Helge is a world renowned physician. He'll get you fixed up in no time."
He chuckled weakly. "Your Majesty, I appreciate your concern and optimism, but I'm dying and no amount of medicine is able to fix that."
Struggling to find some comforting words, the queen settled for a simple apology. "I should have listened to you, I'm so sorry."
He suddenly grasped her hand placing a set of keys in her palm before releasing her. "Our oath was to protect you, Your Majesty. However I'll admit that we were wrong, we should never have left him. Please forgive us."
"Of course I forgive you."
With a final sigh his head lolled to the side. His chest stilled, his breathing ceased and his eyes glazed over.
She lowered her head, offering a small, silent prayer. A few moments later, Elsa rose from the floor, a wave of dizziness overwhelming her. She drew a shuddering breath before staggering towards the brig.
From the moment Hans had been awoken by the crew screaming something about a fire, the two Arendelle guards had wasted no time in relentlessly tormenting him, making sure he was fully aware that after his recent behavior towards the queen his life wasn't worth saving. He actually hated that they were right.
After they had gone, presumably leaving him to die like in some twisted revenge plot, he had attempted to alert anyone who would hear him. However during this unforeseen catastrophe not one of the crew paid him an ounce of attention, though why should they? As soon as the full realization of the situation hit him, he succumbed to the cold reality that he wouldn't be getting off the ship alive. Instead of wasting whatever energy and oxygen he had left, Hans admitted defeat. Locating a nice spot in the corner of his cell he curled up and awaited death.
"Prince Hans, are you in there?"
That voice? It was the voice of an angel surely. Perhaps he was already dead and this was heaven. He slowly opened his eyes, watching as a shadow cut through the thick smoke with a purposeful step.
It really is an angel. Wait. Didn't angels usually wear white? Unfortunately this figure in no way resembled such a holy deity.
"Prince Hans?"
The voice sounded so far away now and had a dreamlike quality to it. Hans simply groaned in response, hoping it would suffice for an answer.
"Oh thank goodness," the voice exclaimed, sounding - happy? Relieved? "Hold on I'm going to get you out of there."
He soon heard the clinking of the lock and once the door had swung open, he was finally able to put a face to his disembodied savior. "E...Elsa?"
Although instead of her usual radiant self, she was in a state of disarray. Her hair was disheveled, her flawless skin was marred with various cuts and bruises and her dress was tattered and torn, not to mention covered in black soot.
"I would have thought someone of such high importance would have been off this ship hours ago." His voice was flat, his face unrelentingly expressionless. "Don't tell me that dumb and dumber haven't been fulfilling their job role correctly."
"Lars is dead, Igor most likely too," she explained. "Now are you coming or not?!"
He stared at her for a long tense moment, noticing the glimmer of tears that had momentarily formed in her beautiful cerulean blue eyes. "Why'd you do it?" he asked. "Why did you come back for me?"
I can't believe I'm about to say this. "I couldn't just let you die."
"Well, sweets cheeks it was very noble of you to come rescue me," he replied, his cold eyes roaming over her face. "I couldn't say whether I would have done the same though."
"Well it's a good job I'm not like you then is it, Prince Hans?"
Hans shrugged, getting to his feet and hobbling over to her. "Well if you could just go ahead and unlock these chains we can get out of here."
She stared at him incredulously. "I may have found it in my heart to come save you. But you are still a prisoner. The restraints stay on. Besides, it only requires the use of your two legs to walk."
He scowled at her. "Whatever you say, sweet cheeks."
Elsa unconsciously clenched and unclenched her fists. "And please refrain from calling me that immature pet name, or burning to death will be the least of your problems," she threatened, clearly flustered.
"Alright then, Your Majesty, which way?" he asked.
The queen took a moment to clarify her surroundings. She recalled the boat was located on the port side of the ship, she just hoped it hadn't been damaged in the blast from earlier. She whirled on her heel, ushering him forward. "That way."
As they scrambled across the deck, Elsa stumbled, landing next to one of the bodies strewn across the floor. She let out a cry as she peered upon the man's charred remains.
"Just don't look at him," Hans reminded her, forcing her to look away as he helped her back to her feet.
They continued fighting their way through the atrocity until Hans finally pointed towards something in the near distance. "Look over there, I see the boat."
"Help me! Please, somebody help me!"
Elsa stopped dead in her tracks, easily recognizing that high pitched squeal. "Matthias?!" What is he still doing here?
Hans turned around. "What are you waiting for, Christmas? Let's go."
"I can't!" she blurted out. "It's Matthias, he needs my help."
"Who? Lover boy? No way, just leave him Elsa."
Elsa felt her stomach churn at his lack of empathy and compassion. "NO! I didn't leave you, so I'm not leaving him," she hissed angrily.
He forcefully grabbed her upper arm. "Don't be a fool! Come with me. We can get off this boat together."
Elsa's face hardened. "Unhand me!"
"You're behaving rashly, acting on your emotions. Now I hate to be the one to say this, but you're the queen, so start acting like one!"
"How...how dare you!" She slapped him hard across the face, forcing him to recoil. "You're supposed to be a prince, yet you've never acted like one!"
Hans rubbed his stinging cheek. "I guess I deserved that."
Elsa said nothing further, instead hurrying off in the opposite direction. "Matthias? Matthias, where are you?"
"Damn you, Elsa!" Hans cursed as he stormed off after the queen.
"I'm over here." Matthias yelled, coughing violently. "My leg it's trapped."
After a lengthy search, she came across the young cabin boy half buried under a mountain of wood. A larger, much heavier piece of debris had landed on his lower leg, crushing it. "It's alright, Matthias, I'm going to get you out of here," she reassured him. After managing to clear some of the debris from his small body she then removed the piece of wreckage off of his leg.
With his injured limb finally free, Matthias stifled a small sob. However as soon as he noticed a small piece of bone penetrating the skin he let out a ear splitting scream. "My leg it's broken!"
Elsa wearily crouched down, attempting to console the child as much as possible. "Matthias, I know it hurts, but I'm going to try to help. I'm going to use my ice to slow the flow of blood and hopefully seal the wound, but you've got to be really brave for me, okay?"
Matthias confirmed with a gentle nod and Elsa got to work, manipulating her ice to form a makeshift bandage over the wound. He let out a shrill cry as the coldness made contact with his skin. At first it felt like his flesh was burning, until numbness eventual took over.
"This should serve as a temporary relief until you are able to seek medical attention." She just hoped that would be sooner rather then later as without proper treatment the wound would surely become infected, which could prove fatal. No Elsa, don't think like that, he's going to be fine.
"It feels better already," Matthias murmured, managing a small smile.
"Well thank God for small miracles," Hans said, with a hint of sarcasm. "Can we go now?"
Elsa glowered at the prince before turning back to Matthias. "I'm going to need to carry you, but you'll need to put your arms around me. Can you do that?"
Matthias gave a curt nod before wrapping his arms around the queen's neck. However with her body heavy with exhaustion it was proving to be more difficult then she expected.
"Just leave me," Matthias relented.
Elsa had never considered that as an option. "No, I'm not leaving you. Let's try that again."
It was amusing watching the queen attempting to carry this boy when she herself was in a weakened state and could barely stand. However he was also aware that their situation was getting more dire by the minute. The ship was becoming much more unstable as the raging fire rapidly spread.
"Remove these restraints and let me help!" Hans offered.
Reluctant at first, Elsa realized she had no choice but to accept. Once she had freed him she half expected him to make a run for it. To her surprise though he ended up doing something quite admirable which left her awestruck. He reached down and scooped Matthias up into his arms.
Flailing wildly, Matthias yelled loudly, "PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"
"Shhh, it's okay," Elsa assured him.
Matthias slowly nodded, yet still whimpering from the pain.
The path to the lifeboat was treacherous, thick smoke obscured their vision making it virtually impossible to avoid falling debris. They had only just made it through by the skin of their teeth when another obstacle brought them to a halt, a barrier of ravenous flames. In one fluid motion, Elsa used her magic to extinguish the fire, but the searing heat was becoming unbearable, seemingly limiting the use of her powers. Thankfully they held out long enough for them to proceed.
"Just a little farther," Hans shouted.
Suddenly another explosion sent Elsa sprawling to the floor with a thud. Hans had managed to stay upright, clutching Matthias protectively in his arms. The wind had picked up dramatically, spreading the flames across the deck, igniting all the wood it touched. More debris was tossed around, some crashing down all around them. Elsa crawled along the wooden deck, her own ragged breathing drowned out by the deafening roar. She was so scared now. Is this how Mama and Papa felt? Were they this scared? She had just managed to hoist herself up when a piece of debris slammed down heavily on the back of her head.
"Elsa! Elsa!" Matthias repeatedly called out, as the blonde crumpled unceremoniously to the floor.
"Hans, get M...Matthias to the l...lifeboat," she choked out.
He stared down at her in horror, before asking, "What about you?"
"Please, for once in your life do as I..." Her voice broke off with a shuddering gasp as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Despite Matthias' protests, Hans decided to honor her request. They reached the boat just in time as it was preparing to launch with a few surviving crewmembers gathered inside.
Unfortunately for the prince a full-on assault ensued as the boy mercilessly pounded on his chest and head, luckily with only minimal effect. "You can't just leave her! We need to go back!"
Once again, Hans ignored his pleas, handing him over to one of the crew before slumping into the boat, coughing and spluttering, yet fortunately very much alive. With his disheveled appearance none of the men seemed to have recognized him which he reckoned worked in his favor. If and when they were rescued they would be miles away from Arendelle. And as soon as they reached safe land he would slip away undetected. He would be free.
"Are you really just going to leave her there?" Matthias asked, interrupting his pleasant thoughts.
"Well yeah," he stated flatly.
"But you helped Elsa and me. I thought you were a good guy now."
"Look kid, what I did back there, that was just for show. I don't care about you, or the queen. I don't even care if she dies. I just want off this ship."
"Elsa was right. Princes' aren't always the heroes they are in fairytales. Sometimes they're just cold, heartless cowards."
Hans drew a sharp gasp. "You know nothing kid, so I suggest you shut the hell up!"
"I know all there is to know. You're a monster, and I hope you burn in hell!"
So I'm a cold, heartless coward and a monster?
Matthias buried his face in his hands and sobbed. "You left her to die. Don't you feel guilty at all?"
Guilt, it was such a funny thing. The way it settled in your chest and slowly suffocated you as it swelled and swelled. The more you became aware of it the worst it got. It was nauseating, overpowering and for the first time ever this tremendous feeling of guilt wouldn't go away.
I can't believe I'm about to do this. "Stop! I need to get off."
"What? Are you mad?" one of the men yelled.
"Actually I'm criminally insane." He stood up, preparing to clamber back on the ship when he was grabbed by one of the larger crewmen.
"No-one gets off this boat!" he bellowed.
Hans struggled, but the man had a strong vice-like grip. "Let me go you fat buffoon."
When Matthias realized that Hans was going to rescue Elsa, he quickly launched himself at the man, sinking his teeth into his hand so hard he was forced to let go.
"ARGH! You bit me you little brat!"
Before he had the chance to reprimand the cabin boy, Hans kicked out, catching his assailant right in the nose, breaking it. Teetering on the edge of the boat he desperately attempted to staunch the flow of blood, but in doing so lost his balance, falling backwards into the sea. Hans' last vision of him were the other crew frantically struggling to get him back in the boat.
As amusing as it was, he now had something more important to do. He had to search for the queen.
"Elsa!"
The sound of Hans calling her name echoed through her mind and forced her back to a hazy semi-awareness. Everything sounded so far, yet so close...too close. The crackling of the flames, the searing heat. The shouts of people around her.
"ELSA!"
He sounded so frantic Was there actual panic in his voice? No Elsa you're imagining it.
Elsa tried to open her eyes to see what was happening, but it was too much effort. Her head was pounding and her entire body wracked with pain. Her body felt like it was burning from the inside out. She couldn't catch her breath, could hardly draw a breath, causing her to panic profusely.
Once he had found her, he breathlessly gasped her name. "Elsa!" He dropped to his knees beside her, stroking her ghostly pale face and brushing her hair away.
She immediately flinched; her body tensed in response to his contact. "Get your hands off of me!"
He apologized, bashfully, "I'm so sorry."
As she tried to sit up, Hans placed his hand on her shoulders, keeping her from moving. "Easy, don't try to move."
"I...I'm fine," Elsa said, although not sounding too convincing. Her voice was hoarse...weak, lacking the usual strength it possessed, but definitely not the stubbornness.
"Elsa you're not okay," he growled, more fiercely then he intended.
"I...Is he safe?"
"Who?"
"Matthias, is he safe?"
"Yes he's safe."
"Good," she murmured as her eyes closed once more.
Guilt. Self-disgust. Regret. Emotions he'd long forgotten, feelings he'd never paid any attention to before...before what? He couldn't really put a finger on it, except seeing her hurt and vulnerable made his heart sink. In that moment he knew he had to save her in anyway he could.
Gently scooping her up in his arms he was surprised how light she was, like a delicate feather. Trawling through the lingering mayhem, Hans reached the side of the ship.
With the last boat out of sight, he now had no choice but to jump overboard. Holding onto Elsa as tightly as possible he leapt into the dark water below.
A/N More to come...