A/N: I think maybe a lot of you'll hate me for this. Before ya'll read this chapter and want to pelt me with potatoes, let me give a shout out to all those who've favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far. Thanks guyz! Alright, I'm gonna go take cover now. *ducks behind sofa*
Broadway(Guest): Awesome! You actually got it!
Lord Destroyer: It's alright, the past is in the past...
HMZ: I do, actually, agree with your advice. Thank you for giving me such. And besides, even if everyone wanted Anna to sing, I would've been too lazy to change it anyways :)
Bluefire407: Western Air Temple ;]
Olaf and Kristoff hadn't been waiting long outside the late queen and king's chambers when Anna finally emerged one morning, with dark rings beneath her eyes that were red from crying. Elsa had told them to give her some time alone, but it only seemed time wasn't helping Anna.
She opened the door, and upon seeing Kristoff, she dove into his arms, weeping.
"I don't know how Elsa did it, Kristoff," she wept. "How she managed to hole herself up for thirteen years, it seems a miracle. It's so...so lonely, and so enclosed..."
Kristoff wrapped his arms around her, shushing her gently. "It's okay, Anna, you're not your sister. You're different from her. You'll just have to find your own ways. And we'll all be there, helping you. Everything's going to be fine."
Anna pressed her face against his chest, listening to the steady, strong beat of his heart. Yes, she knew it now. She didn't have her parents, but Kristoff was here to help her when Elsa couldn't.
"Thank you, Kristoff," she whispered. "The way you say it, sounds like everything can be put right with the snap of a finger."
"It's not going to be that easy, I know," said Kristoff softly, stroking her hair tenderly. "It's going to be hard. There'll be obstacles - "
"Like Hans," chipped in Olaf.
" - but we'll - wait what?!" Kristoff looked down at the snowman. Anna's eyes snapped open, and she untangled herself from Kristoff, her gaze darting to the snowman as well.
"Hans?!" she spat. "The idiot's at the other end of the world already, getting the punishment he long deserved."
Olaf shifted uncomfortably. "Um, well..."
"Olaf..." began Kristoff. "What happened?"
The snowman took a sweep down the halls, and pulled the couple into the room, shutting the door behind him.
"Hans..." he started. "He's right below us now."
A knock followed a call of "Your majesty?". Elsa looked up from her paperwork, seeing Kay and Gerda at the doorway of her study.
"You may enter," she said, and the pair stepped into the room. The air was slightly tense.
"We were wondering..." began Gerda unsteadily. When she couldn't bring herself to continue, she nudged Kay for support.
"That you might, perhaps," continued Kay. "Reconsider letting Prince Hans recieve proper treatment - "
"Reconsider?" Elsa rose from her chair, and suddenly the two servants felt as if the room had darkened considerably. "You want me to reconsider the fate of Hans, who tried to kill my sister, and me, according to you both, I might remind." It was the truth; Kay and Gerda had been the ones who told her, later after the Freeze, of Hans' treason and attempt to take her life.
Gerda took a sudden interest in her shoes, but Kay held his gaze. "Milady, if I may speak, while Prince Hans has commited terrible, unforgivible crimes, he was also one to care for this kingdom during the Freeze. He reach out a helping hand to anyone who needed it, and though it may have been part of his diabolical, evil plan, it benefited the kingdom well."
"Don't try to redeem the man, Kay," growled Elsa, and it was now that Kay ducked his head. "He has hit rock bottom. Put me under hypnosis, tell me to trust him and I still won't trust that sick bastard."
"We do not mean to change your opinions, milady," said Gerda timidly. "We only hoped that you would perhaps hold a more open-mind to the way things are." She curtseyed rather hurriedly, and tripped out of the study, pulling along a in-the-midst-of-a-bow Kay.
Elsa's stare was frigid as ice, as cold and relentless as a storm. She was well aware that Hans' life was on the edge of a blade, but the Snow Queen wasn't about to remove the knife anytime soon.
"Hans is here?!"
Both Olaf and Kirstoff jumped as Anna slammed her metal fist on the table, the vehement bang rattling their bones - well, Kristoff's, at least; Olaf didn't have bones.
"Was I not supposed to tell her?" Olaf asked Kristoff softly, as they watched with slight trepidation from the corner of the drawing room as the girl was on her feet pacing about, muttering things that would've made Oaken wet his pants. To add onto her fiery words, small sparks shot from her metal fingertips at each word, leaving the snowman and mountain man to dive after each rouge spark to prevent another castle fire. Kristoff had no time to wonder what might've happened should those gauntlets be off.
"That gutter-mouthed, devilish, hell-born, sick-minded, corrupted, two-faced, womanizing, snake-tongued, damnable, diabolical," here she took a deep breath, "malevolent, mule-brained, aggravating, double-dealing, idiotic, stuck-up, snobbish, slum-condemned, heartless, wicked son of an arse!" she finished, by which time Kristoff was sweating from darting around the room. "I want to smash his face in with a frying pan! You know, I won't even care what would happen to that pathetic wretch! Let him rot in those cells, for all I care!"
Kristoff couldn't collect his jaw from the ground. Looking upon this new, darker girl who didn't care for the life of a man, he felt as if he didn't know Anna anymore. He looked into her eyes, and saw nothing but blue empty orbs filled with pure fury and ruthless vengeance. This was definitely not the sunny, cheerful girl he had met in the mountains two months back.
Anna ripped off her gauntlets, and immediately they saw her palms light up, hot white-orange flames dancing and swirling between her fingertips. "I'll make sure he regrets showing his repulsive face here again," a smirk crept upon her face. "I'll make sure nobody'll be able to hurt me or my sister again, That nobody'll bully us again. I'll make them all pay." She balled her fists, extinguishing the flames, and turned out the door.
Olaf looked at her retreating back. "Where do you think she's going?" he wondered aloud.
Kristoff's eyes widened, the full meaning of Anna's words hitting him like a ton of bricks.
"Bloody hell."
His days had been harsh, he had to admit. With limited food and beverage, and a cold catching on, he spent the day curled up on his stone bench of the cell shivering and moaning for someone to save him, which seemed sometimes delirious after the cries of help escaped his lips.
Nightmares did not help either. There were so many horrors of the past that came back - his brothers mocking him, leaving him out, playing pranks on him...the list rolled on.
And then today, he had a special visitor.
"Descending into total craziness, Hans?" came a voice.
"I used to like it," he said, his laugh escaping his lips as a series of dry coughs.
"And now?" Something about Anna's voice sent a chill down his spine (or perhaps it was his cold); there was definitely something different about her.
"Crazy about it," he spat back, not looking up.
"Look at me," A hand found his chin, and forced his eyes to stare into those of Anna's.
"I'm looking," said Hans satirically.
"What do you see?"
"A girl guilty to have fallen in naive love of a man she'd just met," he blurted, unable to help himself. It was so hard to concentrate with a splitting headache and a hand around his neck.
The hand now pushed his head roughly against the wall, and as his head met the stone walls, it felt as if his head were going to split into two.
"Wrong answer," growled Anna, and suddenly a pang of fear hit Hans. "You see darkness, you see death, you see hellfire." On the last note, she brought up her hands, flames igniting upon them.
Hans gave a cry of shock, scrambling back in pure panic and pressing himself against the wall.
"Yes, Prince Hans," she hissed, her eyes flashing with maniacal fury. "Meet your angel of death!"
She sent the flames forward, and woe escaped Hans as the fire licked the sides of his face, searing hot pain shooting through his entire body.
Anna conjured yet another fireball, but only larger, her eyes glowing with evil triumph as she fed off his fear. So this was what the revenge felt like. Such excitement it wass for adrenaline to pump through her veins, such ardent flames that sparked within wad, ignited by the thrill of seeing her enemies pay for what they've done. It felt overwhelming, this new sense Anna had discovered, opening to the once cheerful girl a world of trepidation and reality. It bore down upon her like a massive dark wave descending upon the beach, it shone upon her like the sun upon a bat.
It must've been her explorative attitude, that held her back from denying it felt good. Like someone who'd been living in a cave, finally venturing out into a whole new world - this was the current sensation Anna's angry spirit.
However, before she could finish him off, a warm hand wrapped around her wrist. She swiveled around in anger, the flames dying into the blackness of the cell.
"Kristoff," she snarled. "Get out. This is none of your business."
"I can't let you, Anna," he said. "Please, don't do this." He forced her into an embrace, holding on though she squirmed in his embrace.
"Please..." he whispered into her ear. "I love you, Anna."
She stilled. "Is that so..."
"Yes," he crooned. "The most truest thing I've said in my life."
She hugged him back, and Kristoff heaved a silent sigh of relief. Kristoff looked towards Hans, who was crying pathetically in the corner of the room.
"Queen Elsa will heal you," he told him, "Don't worry." As much as he hated this man, Kristoff felt he'd suffered more than he deserved.
In his arms, he felt Anna stiffen.
"Elsa..." she said, almost dreamlike. "Yes, she'll heal you..."
She drew out of the embrace, her expression marble-like and unreadable. Her eyes stared straight ahead into space, her gaze distant. "Elsa'll heal you...with her magic. Yes, I'm her balance, that's my goal in life...she brings life..."
Her eyes now flashed with seething black lividity. "...and I bring destruction."
She stormed out of the cell, her fists clenched and teeth gritted, making a beeline for Elsa's study on the topmost floor, unheeding the usual "Good morning, Princess!" or questions of "Are you quite alright, milady?"
She burst through the doors in a fiery rage. Seeing her sister didn't help. Her icy gown struck her now vengeance-filled eyes as a sick reminder of her reason of life. To be the fire that burned, to force her to come running to her sister for help, and have the Queen look out for her the rest of her life. Anna refused to be condemned to such life, such misery. To vent her rage on the source seemed the only logic now running through her red-blinded mind.
"You destroyed me sister!" she roared, and sent a powerful wave of fire in Elsa's direction.
The Snow Queen gasped in shock, raising her hands and summoning a wall of ice. Their elements clashed in a flurry of blue and orange. "Anna! What happened?" she yelled over the roar of fire.
"You happened!" shrieked Anna, sending another blast.
Elsa gave a shout, sending her wall of ice in Anna's direction, putting into it all her effort. It paid off, and the ice collided with the girl, sending her flying back. She slammed through the doors, a shattering crash resounding as they broke off the hinges, sending wood splaying everywhere.
"Anna, please! Stop this madness!" Elsa yelled, running out to check on her sister.
The dust of the collision cleared slightly, and Anna rose from the grey, her palms engulfed in flickering sparks of angry fire.
"You dare hit me," she seethed. "Curse you and your powers, Elsa. I'll make you rue the day you were born!" She released her fury with a whirl of fire.
Blue fire.
Elsa's eyes widened, summoning her ice again. However, the force of the blast was too great for her to counter, and it knocked her backwards, shattering the glass window behind her and falling out through the window. She screamed as she fell through the air, towards her imminent death.
Come on, Elsa, think!
She twisted herself around, blasting the ground with snow, letting it pile up like a white mound rising from the ground.
She landed with a thud, snow spraying over the courtyard as she crashed into her snow mound. And yet, she was too stunned to feel any kind of relief.
What was happening to Anna?
Around her, the courtyard had become hectic. People who had witnessed her fall ran helter-skelter screaming or yelling, "Sweet mother of Arendelle! Someone fetch a doctor! The Queen is suicidal!"
But Elsa processed nothing of her surrounding, only focusing on the uppermost window of the tallest turret, noticing a jet of flame heading down, only to realize it was Anna and her fiery flight.
She willed the snow around her to form a shield above her head, the ice solidifying just as the fire came down upon her. Her shield melted away, and she had to jump aside quickly to avoid the second blast. Elsa sent a jet of ice in Anna's direction, but another fireball came her way, and she countered it once again.
From above, Kristoff watched with dread creeping down his spine as their elements clashed in the courtyard, lighting it up with magic; Elsa's crystal ice whirling with surreal grace, Anna's blue fire flurrying with fervid energy. It was almost like a dance, the way their powers swirled around them, bending to their will and shooting across the courtyard. It was a dance of death.
"Anna! Please!" Elsa cried. "Stop!" She blasted Anna with more ice than ever, pinning her girl on the wall by her wrists and ankles. Anna squirmed for a moment, but stopped after a while to glare at her, those bitter, hate-filled eyes piercing into her.
"Why?" was the only question that could emerge from Elsa.
"Why?" sneered Anna. "I despise you, Elsa. One, you treated me like a baby. Two, you always got the attention. I'm simply a back-up, simply a counter for your magic. You're the reason I have these blasted powers. You're the reason I'm cursed."
Elsa grimaced. Every word was a dagger in her.
"Finish her, Queen Elsa!" yelled a voice behind her. Elsa turned to see that a crowd had gathered around the scene, wielding any sort of weapon they could've found.
"Kill the witch!"
"What?"
"She's a witch!" cried another commoner. "She has magic from hell!"
"A devil's spawn!"
"No!" cried Elsa. "She's none of that!"
"I am." Elsa whipped around to find that Anna had broken free of the bonds again, and was now walking forward, a new, evil air hanging about her. However, instead of blasting Elsa, she advanced towards all the onlookers, who all hurriedly gave her a wide berth. "Let it be agreed, I'm wicked through and through. I'm tired of all this optimism, this naiveness, of always having to keep up that sunny attitude to make up for Elsa's introversion. I'm hellfire, I'm death, I am the devil's child! I am the heart of fire!" she roared. "So stay away and you'll be safe from me!"
"We'll never be safe from you, no," said a man. "Not while you're here."
"Yea!" agreed a broomstick-wielding housekeeper. "Scram, you witch! Before the Snow Queen makes mush of you!"
In the crowd, Gerda looked disbelievingly at Anna. She no longer knew this princess anymore; this wasn't the girl she had befriended, whom she'd shared all her secrets with, who'd used to play with her as a child. No, this was a total stranger.
They're eyes met, and for a split second, Gerda saw something flicker in Anna's eyes; something between misery, guilt, and disappointment. But it was gone the next second, returning to the heartless, unfeeling stare.
Anna turned back to glare the housekeeper. "I don't have to worry about nothing now, old lady," she said frostily. "Because I got the fire, and I'm gonna burn hell of a something."
"'Cause I got the fire," she repeated, turning to address everyone. A cruel smile tugged at her lips.
"And I'm gonna let it burn."
And then she took off in a blaze of orange and blue, ripping through the sky at the speed of sound, like a meteorite about to unleash hell.