Elsa's cape fluttered behind her as she flew across the landscape. Her eyes were narrowed against the wind and snow, icy and wet, and she was dimly aware that Loki followed her from a short distance behind. But that wasn't what was important now. All that mattered was getting back to Arendelle. She didn't want to think about the possible consequences of getting back too late, but the image of Stella's corpse was still fresh in her mind, forcing her to repress her nausea, along with several possible theories.

The queen didn't feel sick solely because of her beloved mare's death, however. No, what really sickened her was how unbelievably selfish she had been. She had known that a storm was brewing when she and Loki had gotten up that morning. Why hadn't she and Loki left earlier? Instead they'd wasted precious time, flirting and goofing off like lovesick fools. And now they had to find their way down the mountain in a blizzard. Because, apparently, she didn't know how to be a proper queen to Arendelle.

She shook her head, spurring her horse further on though the storm. Now wasn't a good time to think of these things. Despite this, however, Elsa couldn't help a small twitch of fear at the back of her mind, regarding the figure in green following her.

Something about the way Loki had reacted to Stella bothered her. Something she couldn't quite place her finger on. Although, she supposed she could simply be overreacting. This could be her grief talking…right?

As if he'd heard her thoughts, the prince called out behind her. "Elsa!" he hollered over the wind as the queen halted her horse. She let him catch up. Now, even though they were face to face, she had to strain to hear him. "This is unwise. We need to seek shelter; visibility is low enough that-"

"We need to get to Arendelle!" Elsa interrupted him, tired of having this conversation. There wasn't time to think of their own well-being when her people were in danger.

"If there were Chitauri here, which we don't know for certain," he growled, leaning in closer, "this storm would do nothing to hold them back."

"I don't care!" she shouted passionately, "You and I both know that they killed Stella. I know because you tried to keep me from coming back to Arendelle. Now let's go."

The queen turned away from her companion to continue her fight against the wall of white buffeting against them. For the first time in a long time, she felt cold.

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Loki's breath caught in his throat as he watched Elsa leave. There was a terrible weight in his chest, freezing him in place like the icicles hanging off the trees. He could feel every worry, every fear that he had previously suppressed creeping back, ever so slowly, to the forefront of his mind. And now, he wasn't sure how much longer he'd have Elsa to distract him.

It was crushing.

She was going to find out. Beautiful, brave, kind Elsa was going to know he was to blame for whatever havoc the Chitauri had wreaked in their absence. Loki was torn between his despair at potentially losing her and the overarching worry of what the Chitauri wanted with him. His clock was ticking; soon, he'd be alone again.

The thought hurt more than he'd expected it would. Elsa still thought she would get to meet his family someday; how much longer was he going to deceive her?

A little bit longer, at least. Just a little bit. He'd lied to loved ones before, so what made this any different? It was for her own good. It hurt less this way. Loki was beginning to forget what life was like outside of lying.

The god didn't speak to Elsa for the remainder of their descent down the mountain.

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"Elsa!"

Loki watched as Anna came running to her sister, anguish written in her every feature.

It had taken another hour and a half of silent descent down the mountain for the queen and Loki to reach the city. In that time, the storm had let up slightly, but night had also fallen. Large, fluffy snowflakes drifted down from an indigo sky, standing out against the god's hair. He didn't even notice; only tightened his grip on the reins of their horses, knuckles whitening.

A large group looked to have been waiting for them a short ways inside the city gates. There were about fifteen guards, along with Kristoff and Anna, present. Olaf was nowhere to be seen. The god couldn't see any damage to buildings from here, so it was clear they'd been blessed with a minor attack. Of course, to a society as primitive as this, the scale was a bit warped. An actual, full throttle Chitauri attack would leave a place like this a crater in the ground.

Loki pushed that thought from his mind, returning his attention to the now embracing sisters.

"What took you so long?" the redhead asked, pulling away. Elsa didn't meet her gaze when they broke apart.

"We got caught up in the storm," she said lowly, still not looking at Anna. The redhead's chest rose and fell increasingly quickly as her eyes searched her sister, before it stopped all together. Eerily slowly, the princess of Arendelle moved her suddenly icy gaze to Loki.

"Liar," she proclaimed firmly, starting towards the god, "You're lying. What really happened?"

Loki watched impassively as Anna stared him down, "You think," he said smoothly, "Your sister a liar?"

"No, I think you're a liar," the redhead said darkly, raising her voice to a shout, "And I think it's weird that you lured her away so those…those things could attack us! Ten people are dead, Loki! And it's all your fault!"

Loki winced, not at Anna's words, but the small, pained gasp that escaped Elsa behind her.

"Ten…?" the queen's voice was weak, and she'd gone very pale, "Ten people?"

"Yes," Anna still didn't look away from Loki, "Ten people. Because he brought those monsters here."

"And why," the god leaned closer to the redhead, sneering, "Am I alone to blame for this infraction? She chose to come with. It was her idea."

"Shut up!" Anna drew her palm back and cracked it against Loki's cheek, the noise echoing throughout the entire square. A few guards flinched; the god just hardened his gaze. As much as he hated to admit it, the unconscious step back that the redhead took afterwards was…satisfying.

He knew it was a lie, and a lie that would do nothing to help his case, but in that moment, Loki didn't care. All that mattered was that yet again, the odds had been stacked against him. Once again, he'd been given the short end of the stick, and for that reason, he leaned closer still to a slightly unnerved Anna and murmured, barely audibly,

"Try that again, and I'll see to it they come for Elsa next."

The princess's breath left her in a puff of steam, her expression of horror slowly contorting back into one of hatred as she stepped away from Loki, only to have her sister march forward to replace her.

"Stop it," Elsa ordered shakily, standing between them, "Stop it now," she threw an unsure glance in Loki's direction, "We can figure out who is at fault later. Right now I need to see what…happened."

Anna nodded at her sister, "Okay," she softened her voice slightly, "Let's go."

When Loki started to follow, Kristoff, who was following at the rear of the group, turned around and stopped him with a hand to the chest, "Not you," he growled.

The god didn't protest, "Why does everyone think this is my doing?" he hissed, handing the reins of the horses over to a rogue servant, who promptly led the animals away.

"People like you never understand why-"

"No, truly!" Loki persisted, hatred fueling his every word, "I'm curious. Why is everything around here Prince Loki's fault?"

"You want to know why?" the blond cocked his head to the side mockingly, his breath steaming in the god's face, "You show up here, at a party you weren't invited to, apparently injured, but ready to flirt with Queen Elsa. You persist to the point that you get yourself banished and, surprise surprise, the very next day she gets attacked by some sort of monster in the woods, which you just so happened to be around to save her from. Suddenly, she's in love with you, and later, when you two are off on your little trip to fantasyland, Arendelle gets attacked by not one, but three monsters. You killed ten villagers today, and I'm going to find out what your secret is, Prince Loki. And as soon as I do, you'll be hightailing it back to Asgard as soon as your legs will carry you. Wherever that is. Are we clear?"

Loki nodded, "Crystal," he said, wanting his voice as hard as the word it formed. Instead, it cracked like ice.

"Good," Kristoff shoved him away roughly, the god sneering after him, "And stay away from Anna!"

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Elsa's heart hammered as she and Anna walked in silence to the city square, where the bodies of the dead were apparently laid out. She felt sicker than she had seeing Stella's corpse that morning, and that was saying something. This wasn't a dead horse. This was tendead people. Her subjects, and she'd failed them. She'd failed them so immensely she didn't think she deserved to be called a queen.

The streets were almost completely empty, and Elsa and Anna's footsteps echoed eerily in the midnight air. The silence between them was heavy.

"How was it?" the redhead asked quietly, taking her sister aback.

"…Are you serious?" Elsa asked incredulously, shocked that of all things, this was the first thing Anna would inquire about.

"Just being polite," the younger girl mumbled moodily, "You know, Olaf thinks you two are really cute together."

"Anna," the queen said hoarsely, "Please. We can do this later. Just tell me about the attacks. Did you see them? How much do the people know? How many of them were there?"

Sighing, Anna watched the path in front of them, dark save for what was illuminated by oil lanterns held by the guards or hung on the sides of buildings. It struck Elsa just how old her little sister looked in that moment.

"There were three. Just three. When you'd said 'monster', I didn't know what to expect but…" the redhead covered her face with a hand, suddenly fighting back tears and looking very, very young, "Elsa…" she turned to the blonde, despair rolling down her cheeks, "They were horrible. Just horrible. They looked like people but…not like people. And they were so strong, too. They were first sighted by the bakery on the left side of town. I think they spent most of the time on top of buildings but…some people got in the way. They just…broke them, Elsa. Like they were twigs. I could hear the snap-" her voice ended in a croak as she finally broke down.

"Shh, Anna…" Elsa pulled her sister into a hug, now blinking back tears herself, "It's fine," she reassured shakily, "It's over now."

But was it?

"They…they just left after a little while. Their voices, Elsa…They talked to each other in those horrible voices. It was like they were looking for something. But they left without anything…not even food. What kind of monster doesn't even eat food?"

"I don't know," Elsa soothed gently, hugging her sister a little tighter, then finally letting go, "Loki thought they might be back. We found…we found Stella dead in the woods. The same way you said people died here. He tried to keep me from going back. He was worried."

"You found Stella dead?" Anna's voice was barely a whisper, "Oh, Elsa. I'm so sorry."

The queen grabbed her arm nervously, an old habit, "I just can't believe this. It's like a nightmare…"

The redhead flinched, but didn't say anything. The two started walking again.

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The bodies were layed out in rows, two of five, in the town square. Each was covered with a deep blue blanket, snow starting to obscure the original color of the fabric as it fell.

Elsa's heart had been beating up a storm, faster and faster, as they'd gotten closer to their destination. But now that they were here, now that she could finally look upon her dead subjects, she felt strangely calm. Maybe because she felt too much.

The guards stood by stoically when the queen and Anna entered the square. The princess had tears in her eyes, though she didn't utter a single sob. Elsa took a few steps closer to the bodies before making a decision.

"Uncover their faces," she ordered the guards, voice regal and cold. She wondered if that would be how citizens of Arendelle would see her from now on; the queen who didn't care about them…

Silently, a few men stepped forward to obey the order. In the silent night, the rustling of fabric and the clack of shoes on cobblestone sounded as loud as canon fire. The guards stepped back into line, and Elsa, concentrating on forcing herself to breathe, stepped forward to view the first line.

The first face was wrinkled and elderly. It wore spectacles, and had wiry, short, silver hair. Elsa didn't recognize the man, but she knew from the shard of bone jutting out from his chest that he didn't deserve the fate he'd met. No one deserved that. Not even Hans had.

Next was a girl. Young and raven haired. The queen recognized her with a pang, making her breath leave her in a shaky huff. It was one of the girls who had talked to her and Loki at the festival. Only, this was the one that had stood in the back, while her friends talked. She'd been the only one that hadn't harassed Elsa. The silent girl.

The next face was unknown to Elsa once again. This time, it was a short, brunette woman. She had streaks of silver in her hair, and dark circles under her eyes. It suddenly occurred to the queen that she had no idea of when these attacks had precisely taken place. She knew she'd have to ask eventually, but right now, that was something her heart simply could not bear. Surely, they could not have been dead long if they hadn't started…decomposing yet.

Guiltily, Elsa moved on to the next body. A teenage boy, he looked no older than fifteen. His straw colored hair reminded the queen of Kristoff, making her more than a little sick to her stomach. This was somebody's son. This was somebody's friend. This was somebody. Or had been somebody.

A memory flashed to the forefront of Elsa's mind. Men were surrounding her; she was afraid…so afraid. Fear quickly turned to rage as she created a wall of ice, pushing one of them farther and farther away from her. Another had a needle of ice extending towards his throat. Elsa wanted them to keep struggling. She wanted to be a monster…

She remembered sending a shard of ice through Anna's heart, once when it was small, and once when it was fully grown. Though one could argue that her sister's heart had always been big. Big and growing. Of course Anna had forgiven her. Anna could forgive anyone.

Conceal, don't feel. Maybe Elsa would have been better off staying shut in…maybe…

The face of the next victim froze the queen's thoughts, along with her feet. It seemed even the falling snowflakes paused in midair; the storm taking a moment of silence. Elsa could have sworn that for half a second, her heart stopped. She hadn't recognized the face when it wasn't animated, telling her off for not getting up quick enough or ripping a nice dress.

Mia's arms were crossed over her round stomach, her normally rosy cheeks pale as snow.

A broken noise escaped Elsa's throat, and her hands started to tremble, "No…please no…" she shook her head at Mia's body, as though maybe if she begged enough it would come to life again.

This was Mia. Mia who had brought her soup when she'd been sick. Mia who had always been a guaranteed constant. Even when Anna or Kristoff had been moody or irritable, Mia had always been there to help Elsa through. She'd been stern sometimes, but in a way, she'd been like a mother figure. She'd always had Elsa's best interests at heart; always wanting nothing less than the best for her. And now…now she was gone. Because of Elsa.

…Mia had never liked Loki.

"No…" the queen dropped to her knees next to the body, her broken sobs echoing through the square. Even when a gentle hand alighted on her shoulder, even when a familiar hug from Anna encircled her in warmth, Elsa couldn't shake her feelings of desolation. She didn't think she could handle looking at another row of bodies. Another row of reasons why she was a monster.

"Anna…?" she choked out.

"Elsa…"

"Why was…how…?"

"She was out in the gardens. While you were gone, she was just doing miscellaneous things around the castle and…she was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Elsa felt like she was trapped in a nightmare, "Is there...anyone else I'll recognize?" she asked shakily.

"…no," Anna answered softly, continuing to hold her sister close.

"I…we need to bury them-"

"It's not safe," the redhead interrupted firmly, "Even for us, out here. We don't know if they're going to come back, or when. So for now, we'll just hold the bodies in the castle crypts and wait for this to blow over. The ground is too frozen to hold a proper burial right now, anyway."

Chilling silence fell over the square once more, and Elsa quickly stood up, her heartbeat quickening in a way that was all too familiar. She had to get out of here.

"I need to be alone," she announced hastily, turning away from Anna and taking care not to look at the bodies on the ground, "Bring the bodies to the crypt with utmost haste and ensure that no subjects are outside their houses until further notice."

"Really alone?" Anna called after her, making the queen stop in her tracks, "Or alone with Loki?"

Elsa didn't so much as look over her shoulder to acknowledge the question.

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Loki paced his quarters nervously, counting his steps as he went. He imagined anyone that looked through his window from the outside would think him a madman. The god didn't care.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, turn, one, two…

It was well after midnight, but he didn't feel like sleeping in the slightest. For one, his mind was working a mile a minute and he seriously doubted his capability of shutting it down. Then there was the fact that Kristoff, Anna, and who knew how many other residents of Arendelle now hated him. Loki had pictured his death many times, but being smothered in his sleep by a Midgardian was not an appealing possibility.

And, lastly, the Chitauri were definitely here, and they were definitely looking for him. This was the reason Loki's nails were chewed down far enough that they bled. This was the reason he kept crossing and uncrossing his arms, hands tightened into fists with a ferocity that turned his knuckles white.

Five, six, seven…

He had no way of avoiding them. He had no defenses, nothing. There was literally no one who could save him from them. He could run, yes, but what would that do? They would still catch him eventually. He had no real Midgardian currency, and while he could always use magic to fake it, he still had no way out of this realm.

There was no way to escape.

His only hope was that they would look elsewhere, after not finding him in the city. But even that was temporary. Eventually, they would realize where he was. And then they would attack again and again, killing any of Elsa's people that got in the way, until they had him.

The god caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror, freezing him in his tracks. His hair had lengthened slightly. Not much else seemed to have physically changed, but Loki nevertheless felt like he was staring at a stranger's reflection. He moved in closer to the glass, examining green eyes critically.

I look like a Midgardian, Loki thought. It was true, even outside of the clothes he wore. While they certainly helped the image, they hadn't suited him so well when he'd first arrived here. He'd held himself taller, before. Now there was something emotional that he carried with him, like a patch on his sleeve, bringing color to his face and character.

It was alarming.

Being an apathetic god was, in Loki's experience, far less painful than being a person. If he allowed himself to feel, he allowed himself to hurt. Maybe that would be what allowed him to escape this alive…

What about Elsa? a quiet voice from the corner of his mind spoke up.

The god huffed quietly, hating the way his expression changed as soon as the queen crossed his mind. But that didn't change the very real problem she posed. Elsa was the one reason he had to hold on to emotion. She was all he had anymore, despite being a Midgardian. Loki needed her. He needed her, even if it hurt.

He wanted to see her. Would she be back in the castle by now? Surely, they would want to be inside as soon as possible, in case the Chitauri were still around, which, undoubtedly, they were. But where to look first? Maybe he should try the library…

No. Elsa would be upset. He'd seen her face when they'd arrived inside the gates. She wouldn't want to cry in such a public place. Her room would probably be the place to check…

A quiet knock sounded at the door, making Loki discard his entire train of thought. There was only one person who would be knocking so softly. In fact, there was only one person who would be knocking on his door at all.

"Enter," he called out in a measured voice.

Elsa was very pale when she slipped through the doorframe, hunched over and trembling slightly. She didn't look at Loki as she shut the door.

It hurt the god's heart to look at her.

"Elsa…" he strode over to her as she broke down in quiet sobs, "Hush. I know, I know…" Loki carefully wrapped his arms around her and led her to the bed so they could sit. He could feel every gasp shake her body.

"It's my fault," the words were barely audible, "It's my fault, Loki. I…I wanted us to go. I was so selfish-"

The god watched with only mild fascination as ice spread from her palms, forming a thin sheet over the bedspread. The queen suddenly jerked her hands closer to her body, shaking like a leaf as she hastily stood up.

"I should go," she said hurriedly, a faint blue still visible from the center of her fists, "I don't want to hurt you-" She started towards the door, and had already taken a few frantic steps before Loki spoke.

"Elsa," he called after her, "Wait."

The queen paused, slowly turning to face him with puffy red eyes, "I don't want to hurt you," she repeated hopelessly. The words felt like a punch to the gut for Loki; she was worried about hurting him? How perplexing was that?

"Come back?" he offered, jerking his head towards the bed, "Please?"

Elsa stayed where she was.

"I don't think either of us want to be alone right now," he coaxed. It was true. Loki didn't think he could bear the thought of Elsa crying by herself somewhere. And when he had so little time left, he didn't want to be apart from her, either.

The queen cautiously started towards the bed, and Loki stood to meet her, wrapping her in his arms a little bit tighter this time when they sat down. Elsa buried her face in his shoulder, and the god felt each of her hot tears as it fell. They sat like that for a few minutes, him stroking her hair as she cried, before anyone said anything more.

"Mia," the queen sobbed, catching Loki off guard slightly.

"Mia?"

"She's…dead…" Elsa's shakes increased in intensity as she choked on her sorrow.

"Shhh…." Loki soothed, copying what Frigga used to do. He supposed it was probably different than most Asgardian men would comfort their partners, but damn it all, this was how he would have wanted to be comforted, "Elsa, it's not your fault."

"I'm a monster."

The god froze for a second before catching himself. There was certainly a monster in this room, but it wasn't the queen of Arendelle.

"That's nonsense. You're no monster, Elsa. You're a better queen than anyone could hope for."

"But-"

"I followed you there. I had as much a hand in your not being present as you did. And neither of us could control the presence of the Chitauri."

A silence that Loki could only label as disturbing followed that statement. Eventually, Elsa lifted her head to meet his eyes.

"…So…it wasn't you?"

The god licked his lips, "…I don't want them here, Elsa."

"But they're here for you? They want you?"

Loki studied his companion's eyes. Beautiful blue; filled with sadness and light and devotion. Many things that he would likely never feel again. They weren't accusing… rather, they were pleading. Begging him to tell her that it wasn't true. But what else could it be?

And how could he lie to her face?

The answer seemed quite clear to the god, who simply leaned in and kissed her, gentle and slow. No happiness was to be found in that kiss, instead there was only desperation. Their lips were feather light on one another, not helping at all with Loki's sense of hopelessness. There was no bruising of lips, no fingers tangled in hair. Instead, just two damaged souls, who fell asleep together afterwards.

A/N: I know, it was a long wait. Personal reasons, sorry. BUT here it is. Hope you liked it, and I'll try to get up the next chapter relatively soon. ALSO, the tab for story updates on my blog is no longer under Loki's helmet. It's in the same place, but underneath a demonic looking symbol in red. I decorated for Halloween early ^_^ See ya next time.