A/N: I've gone back and forth on what I wanna do with this story and what makes the most sense plot wise, so the multi-chapter story I was going to write is going to be posted separately from this one. This story is going to be missing scenes, one shots, and anything that strikes my fancy, more info in the a/n of chapter 1.

So I hope you enjoy and don't forget to tip your ice monster on the way out.

"That's what happens when you're responsible for lives other than your own, isn't it? You do what you have to do."

- A Court of Thorns & Roses

"Who's this?" Elsa demanded, but shook her head before Anna could respond. "Wait, it doesn't matter. Jus—you have to go." She took a few steps back, turning her body away from Anna and cradling her hands to her chest.

Elsa needed her sister to leave, desperately. She'd lashed out at Anna, struck her. At least, she thought she did. Last time, a sudden blast of her icy power had knocked Anna unconscious and they couldn't wake her. But Anna seemed fine, and persistent, so maybe Elsa hadn't hit her. Maybe she was okay. But what was certain was that Elsa couldn't control her powers; it was only a matter of time before she injured her sister again. She wasn't safe to be around.

She pressed a hand to her head. Conceal, don't feel. It was no use; she could hear the ice as it grew and shifted around them.

"No." Face set, Anna took a step closer. "I know we can figure this out together—"

"How?" Elsa yelled. Her heart thumped painfully in her chest as she turned back to her sister. "What power do you have to stop this winter?" She cupped her hands tightly to her chest, desperate to stop the frost building in her fingertips. "To stop me?"

The sound of shifting ice increased around them as shadowy spikes of ice climbed the walls.

"Anna, I think we should go." The man tugged at her sister, attempting to draw Anna away as he watched the shadows spread.

"No!" Anna shouted, ripping herself from his grip. "I'm not leaving without you, Elsa."

Staring into her sister's glistening eyes, Elsa felt her heart breaking. She wanted nothing more than to be with Anna, to return home with her, to fix this mess and just be sisters again. But she knew that could never happen; she'd proved once and for all that she was too dangerous to be around. "Yes, you are." Elsa unfolded her hands and released the build-up she'd barely been holding back, allowing her swelling emotions to channel through the magic. Her fear, her desperation to protect her sister, her need for isolation, to be alone. She backed away as the cloud of ice and snow grew between them, taking the form of a giant snow monster.

Don't hurt them.

The monster reached down and scooped up the man, Anna, and Olaf. With slow, heavy steps, he turned to the stairwell and carried them back to the front of the palace.

"Elsa!"

She could hear her sister struggling against the icy hand hauling her away.

"Put us down!"

Elsa pressed her hands over her ears to drown out her sister's yells. This was for the best. Anna had to leave; it wasn't safe for her to stay here. She began to pace around the room. "Get it together," she ordered herself.

You kinda set off an eternal winter, everywhere.

She had tried so hard to conceal it, to hold her magic at bay. After it spilled out at the coronation, she thought everyone would be safer if she left, but she was wrong. The storm inside her broke free and now everyone was in danger, and it was her fault.

"Control it."

Elsa folded her arms around herself. Maybe she was exactly what they all said she was - a monster. There was no more hiding, and she didn't know what to do. She had no idea how to stop this winter.

"Don't feel, don't feel."

She had to control this; conceal, don't feel. Elsa resumed her pacing as the walls groaned and the ice darkened, turning red. She pressed her hands tighter to the sides of her head. "Don't feel, don't feel."

She spun around, noticing for the first time the spikes growing out of the walls around her, sharp and deadly. She drew into herself, fear digging its claws in deep and stealing her breath.

Fear will be your enemy, and death its consequence.

Elsa's chest tightened, leaving her feeling suffocated. She ran toward the open air of the balcony and threw open the doors. She folded over the railing and wrapped her fingers around the icy barrier until her knuckles turned white, pulling in gulps of fresh mountain air. After a moment, her chest loosened so she no longer felt like she was going to pass out.

Maybe she could run, but how far would she have to go? Would she take the storm with her or just make it spread? As long as she was here, as long as she was alive, everyone was in danger. "Oh, Papa, I tried." She was a monster. If she was dead, would they be free? She looked over the ice-covered mountains. But what if after she was . . . gone, the storm only raged harder?

Elsa tightened her grip on the ice railing before pushing away and walking determinedly back inside. If she was a monster, then she knew what she had to do. But first, she needed to fix her mistake. She had to find some way to stop this storm and bring summer back to Arendelle. She wouldn't abandon her people to a frigid fate.

She just had to—a foreign feeling rushed through Elsa. It took a moment for her to realize she could feel her snow monster tensing, as something or someone approached her ice palace. As she cautiously walked down the stairs, she heard a voice call out, but the words were taken away on the wind. She was almost at the front of the palace when she felt, rather than saw, her snow monster spring to life with a roar that filled the air. She quickly covered the distance to the door, pulling it open just in time to see the monster take a swipe at a handful of armed guards.

They'd come for her.

Elsa backed away, heart pounding, and pushed the doors closed as she made her way back toward the stairs. She felt the faint give in the ice outside her palace as they crossed her bridge. She bolted up the staircase, turning just in time to see them burst through the door. Almost without conscious effort, the ice around her shifted colors, reflecting her fear as she ran up the stairs.

She ran into the cavernous room at the top of the staircase, stopping short in the center as she realized she had backed herself into a corner.

"We got her."

Elsa spun back as she guards burst into the room. She recognized the uniforms. These weren't Arendelle's guards; they were Weselton's. She held up her hands but kept them low, hoping to ward them off before things got out of control. Or, even more out of control. "No, please."

One of the guards leveled his crossbow at her. She heard the click of an arrow and threw her hands up, knowing it wouldn't save her. When she didn't feel the piercing pain in her chest, Elsa chanced opening her eyes, shocked to see the bolt had been stopped no more than an inch from her face, held back by a wall of ice.

They intended to kill her.

"Go around. Toss it!" The guards circled her, one tossing an arrow to the other.

"Stay away." She went on the offensive, sending a spray of ice along the floor at them, trying to knock them off balance.

"Look out!" The guard jumped over the ice and managed to roll back to his feet. The second guard gained his feet much faster than his friend and took aim.

"Fire, fire!"

Elsa shot ice his way, knocking him off his feet as the first guard circled around behind her. She quickly redirected another blast of ice toward him, creating a thin, low wall between them. Panic mixed with anger, constricting her chest making it difficult to breathe. These men were forcing her to do things she'd never anticipated, to use her magic to defend herself.

"Get her!"

Her heartbeat thudded in her ears and adrenaline coursed through her. Elsa threw her hands out to either side as the guards slowly circled her. Her attention whipped back and forth as she tried to keep both men in her sight, waiting for someone to make a move. She wouldn't let them catch her off-guard. The first guard lifted his crossbow, just a fraction, and Elsa snapped her arm out, raising icy spikes from the ground with lightning quickness. The guard was pinned to the wall, a razor-sharp spike resting near his throat.

The second guard move behind her and she waited for him to get into position before releasing a burst of ice. The ice slammed into his crossbow, knocking it from his hands. The man stumbled from the attack, then turned to run. Elsa swept her hand upwards, raising a wall of ice to block his path. She wasn't going to let him escape. He tried to change directions, and she repeated the action. Having trapped the guard between two walls of ice, Elsa summoned a third to press him toward the balcony doors. She channeled even more power into the wall, until her beautiful balcony doors cracked and shattered under the pressure. The guard was knocked to the ground, but she didn't stop. She didn't want to fight, but she was not going to allow these men to kill her in her own home.

Her vision clouded as she pressed even harder. The sharp, icy spike moving closer to the first guard's neck, and the wall pushing the second guard closer to the edge.

"Queen Elsa!"

She ignored the call, adrenaline and anger fueling her magic.

"Don't be the monster they fear you are."

Elsa's head snapped in the direction of the speaker, face twisting in anger as the Prince's words sunk in. They thought she was a monster, and she was proving them right. She dropped her arms, and the magical attacks. She panted heavily, releasing the rage that she had let herself sink into.

As the ice spikes began to retreat, the first guard lifted his crossbow once more, lining up a shot. Elsa saw Hans move, redirecting the bolt from her. Then she felt it, the snap of delicate ice in the chandelier hanging above their heads. She looked up just in time to see it coming down.

She scrambled to get out of its path, knowing if it landed on her, that would be it. The chandelier slammed into the ground just behind her, knocking her off her feet. Elsa hit the ground and slid, her head exploding with pain. A flash of white burst behind her eyelids just before everything faded to black.