Chapter Twenty three
"Well, this has been a long time..."
Elsa narrowed her eyes. She clenched her fists and readied herself.
In front of her stood Hans. At the side lines were Raven, Hiccup and Robert, watching. It was the day after and she went back to her company with Anna and Robert. Kristoff had to work today.
She hadn't met up with Tsar, Benri and the others. But she promised herself that she would call them today. For now she was going to fight against Hans again for the first time after a year...
"It had been a really long time since we've last fought..." Hans said again. He pulled his gloves from his hand and grinned. "I'm sure that I shouldn't go easy on you, miss Winters."
"You guessed right." Elsa said. She could feel how her hands became colder. "And if you do hold back...then I'll get you fired."
"You aren't the boss anymore...or are you?"
"Then I'll guess I'll have to prove myself!"
"Oi, are you two going to battle or what?!" Robert yelled from the side.
Elsa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, got it, mr impatient."
Around Elsa's hand icicles appeared and in Hans' hand a fireball appeared.
"Let's begin then!" Hans yelled and he threw a fireball towards her.
Elsa avoided it and ran towards him. She threw an ice beam at him, but Hans avoided it too. When she was close to him, he turned around and pulled her arm around.
But around the arm that was pulled behind her back came an ice blast and Hans was forced to release it and jump a few meters back.
"Dammit..." Hans panted. "You got better."
"I really didn't." Elsa pointed the arm towards him and ice formed around her hand, forming an ice like spear.
With her spear Elsa ran towards Hans. Hans quickly moved out of the way and Elsa hit a wall with her spear. The weapon got stuck in the wall and Elsa grumbled. She tried to pull it out of the wall, but had no time. Behind her she could hear Hans making a fireball within his hands.
"You're right, Elsa..." Hans said as he walked up to her. The fireball in his hand got bigger with each step. "You didn't get better...you were always like this!"
He was about to throw the fireball in her back when Elsa pulled her spear out and turned around. She held it in front of her and it quickly changed into a round shield. Hans threw the fireball towards her, but the shield protected her.
But it wouldn't protect her much longer. The fire slowly started to melt the ice.
She gritted her teeth as she didn't knew what to do. At this rate Hans would surely win and she would definitely lose...unless she would use one of her new tricks...but that would be too dangerous. It would either freeze the entire room or kill Hans. No, she just had to fight the old-fashion way.
Elsa quickly dove out of the way as the fireball melted her shield. She rolled over the ground and came to a halt. With shaky legs she stood up and looked at Hans who chuckled calmly.
"Miss Winters, don't tell me that you're forfeiting?" Hans asked.
"No..." Elsa let out a sigh. "I'm just going to fight you the old fashion way...with no powers, what do you say?"
She bawled her fist and stroke a pose. Hans laughed and shook his head.
"Miss Winters, you are getting a bit too eager right now...how about we stop here? Your powers and overall fighting has become a lot better."
"Really?" Elsa smiled. "I never thought that I would hear that from you, agent Westerguard."
"Well, you have been gone for almost a year, I thought I'd be nice for once."
"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Raven yelled and she clapped in her hands. "You two are both equally good, let's keep it at that!"
"Equally good?!" Hans and Elsa both said in unison and they turned their heads towards Raven.
Raven giggled as she walked up to Elsa and petted her on her head. "Yeah, equally. You two are just as good, you can't win from each other."
Elsa grumbled and slapped her hand away. "Geez, Raven...don't treat me like I'm a kid...I'm already 22, almost 23!"
"I know, but you're still the cutest!" Raven wrapped her arms around her like a big sister. "I love you to the end of time!" She yelled while rocking Elsa from the right to the left.
"I-I-I-I k-k-know, but I'm all grown up!" Elsa stuttered with a blush.
"Sometimes I wonder."
Raven stopped rocking Elsa and released her. The two women turned to Hans who stared at them with a serious look on his face.
"Excuse me?!" Raven said loudly.
Hans sighed. "Elsa, I know that you can lead this company, but I need to train you a bit again. Even with everything that's going on."
"Yeah, about that..." Elsa rubbed her neck. "We do have security in front of the building, right?"
"Yes." Hans answered.
"Okay, good..."
"And the Moon-family is safe too."
Elsa's eyes went wide. "Moon-family? Do you mean Tsar, Benri and..."
"Yes. They even requested to me to set up a meeting with them."
She put her hands to her chest and smiled. She was going to see her family again!
Raven giggled. "Excited?"
Elsa smiled at her. "A little. I haven't seen them in so long...I mean, I did vanish for a year, they're probably mad."
"But they also missed you." Raven said. "Elsa...I've talked a lot with them when we were still searching for you and believe me, they never stopped loving you. They talked about you every day."
"Still..." Elsa cracked her knuckles. "I...don't know."
"Aw, don't be like that!" Raven hugged her. "I'm sure that they will love to see you again...and if not, then I will hit them for you!"
Later in the day Elsa sat down in her office. Hans was by her side, telling her about the new agents, statistics and new jobs.
"New jobs?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah, we created new jobs for people who are invalid or are getting old."
"Like what?"
Hans smirked and opened a laptop on her desk. "How about you see for yourself? Look through the job-folder and you see the newly added ones. Oh! And while you're doing that, make sure to look at the new agents."
"Okay, and what are you going to do?" Elsa asked.
"I'm going to check the front of the building. See if the guards are still alert."
"Alright..."
"See you." Hans waved as he walked out of room and shut the door behind him.
Elsa sighed and started to look at the new jobs. She leaned on her elbow as she scrolled past them.
Reception-Assistant, Computer-Assistant, Lunch-Assistent...everything, except the lunch one because what did they need an assistant for the lunch-lady for, sounded pretty normal. She closed the folder and opened another one on the new agents.
She quickly skimmed through every file and yawned. There weren't much faces that were actually new to her. Only ten new ones and they all seemed pretty normal...
She shut her laptop and stretched out.
What else was she going to do today? She already practiced with Hans and he already explained a lot about the new system and now she was pretty much done.
Just when she was thinking about leaving for the day the door opened up.
"Miss Winters?"
Elsa looked up and she saw that Jack walked into the room. She immediately changed her posture and sat up straight.
"Ja...agent Guardian!" Elsa said with a high-pitch voice. "W-what is it?"
"Well, I needed to talk with you." Jack stopped in front of the desk. His determinant look made Elsa's heart skip a beat.
She cursed at herself in her head and pounded on her chest with her fist to try and stop the feeling.
Jack raised his eyebrows at her actions and asked; "Miss Winters, are you okay?"
Elsa nodded and lowered her hand. She stood up. "Yeah...just trying to hide a cough. I, uhh, can't cough because it's bad for my, uhm, body..."
Jack slowly smirked. He knew that she was lying and that it was one of the worst lies he ever heard. Jack chuckled at her as she shyly put a string of hair behind her ear.
"But!" Elsa walked around the desk and stood in front of him. "What is it that you need to talk about?"
Jack's smile disappeared. "I'm...miss Winters...no, Elsa...you aren't in love with me anymore, right?"
Elsa clenched her fist and looked at the ground. Right now she had no idea what her feelings were. She did care about him, but love him? It wasn't like her heart stopped beating for him or that the butterflies would just fly out of her stomach...but...
"Elsa?"
Elsa looked up at him again. "Yes?"
"You aren't in..."
"No!" Elsa nervously waved with her hands. "I'm not, never-ever! So, if you're dating someone, then that's fine! I mean, I thought about dating someone too and to be honest, we grew up together, it would be kinda weird to...
"I'm dating Emily."
Elsa's mouth closed up. Jack didn't dare to look her into her eyes.
"Emily?! Like in Pitch his sister?!" Elsa yelled.
"Y-yeah..."
"So you two got back together, that's great!"
Jack stared back at her. He saw the hurt in her eyes and her lip tremble. She sounded chipper and happy for him, but couldn't hide her sadness well.
"Elsa..." Jack put his hand on her shoulder and sighed. "I'm so..."
"Don't." Elsa smiled at him. "I know. I know that we were...in love...but I can't be the one who keeps you from happiness all the time. Look, Emily has always been a good person and I'm honestly excited for you two."
"Really?"
"Of course." Elsa pushed his hand away. She walked over to her desk and grabbed her bag. "I'm going home for today, Hans has told me everything that I need to know. Plus, I'm tired..."
Suddenly her phone buzzed. Elsa raised her eyebrows as she looked at the caller-ID.
It was Hans.
Normally she would pick up, but something didn't feel right.
"Elsa, is something wrong?" Jack asked.
Elsa looked at him. "No, just...I just got a bad feeling."
Jack pulled the phone out of her hand and dismissed the call.
"Hey!" Elsa yelled. "What the hell are you doing?! What if it was Hans..."
"It isn't." Jack nodded towards the door. "I just heard Hans walking by, talking with Hiccup. There is no way that he is calling you."
"Then, who could this be..." Elsa pulled the phone out of his hand. "Maybe it's one of those Super-Naturals..."
Her phone went off again. This time it was Anna, who she did give her phone-number to.
Before Jack could say something Elsa picked up.
"Yes?"
"Elsa, I'm so glad you're picking up! Sis, we need to meet up now, I have something big to tell you!"
Elsa grinned. "Oh, really? Please, tell me that you're having a baby!"
"Pfffftttt...are you kidding?! No, but it is important! Please, meet me at the rooftop of the parking lot at the A-hotel!"
Elsa giggled. "Alright. I'm just leaving, see you in 20 minutes!"
"Okay, see you then!"
Elsa put her phone off and put it into her pocket. Her smile faded away and her eyes went dark.
"Elsa, are you crazy?!" Jack said. "That could have been a..."
"Stop talking." Elsa turned her back to him and walked over to the window. She touched the glass. Ice immediately spread and froze a piece of the window. She pulled her hand back and leaned with her head against the glass. It all didn't make sense...why were they after her? She and Pitch opened the portal, yes, but technically she wasn't much worth to them. They could find any Natural and use them for whatever they needed...
Jack put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around.
"Elsa..." He stared at her with his blue and worried eyes. "Are you alright?"
Elsa's eyes shifted around the room. What if they were listening in on their conversation?
"Elsa?" Jack kneaded her shoulders a little bit. She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him again.
"Are you alright?" Jack asked again, this time with more force.
"I'm fine..." Elsa sighed. "And..."
She moved closer to him and whispered something into his ear. Jack's eyes went wide.
He stepped back. "Miss Winters, that's..."
Elsa put her finger against his lips. "Just shut up...you work for me, right? Then don't question the things I ask."
Jack sighed. "Alright, miss Winters."
"Good."
Later Elsa walked onto the parking lot of the A-hotel. There was no one, except for a few cars.
She nervously swallowed and slowly walked around. With her free hand she felt the pistol she borrowed from Raven beneath her belt. She missed her old gun, but thankfully Raven was kind enough to give hers to borrow.
"There you are!"
Elsa's feet and breath stopped abruptly when she heard Anna's voice.
She turned around towards the sound, but saw no one.
"I've been waiting really long for you, sis!"
Elsa turned around again. This time she saw a strange woman with smile walking towards her. The woman had short blue hair and a suit on. Her eyes were completely red.
Elsa grabbed her gun and pointed it towards the woman.
"Who are you?!" Elsa yelled.
The woman stopped in her tracks. Her smile faded and she cocked her head.
"Don't you know? My name is Fé, I'm from another world. Thanks to you and your fiancé the portal opened up and we..."
"Yeah, yeah..." Elsa interrupted her and waved with her hand. "I know, I know...let me guess..." She put her hand forward and a small round shield of ice appeared. "...you're here to kill me?"
"Not really. I'm here to capture you."
The woman launched forward and within a second broke Elsa's shield. Elsa was shoved back and noticed that the woman had fire around her arm.
Elsa gathered herself again. "You're a fire-Natural."
"Wrong! I'm not weak like those Naturals!" Fé yelled.
Fé launched forward again. Elsa quickly dodged her attack, but the woman grabbed her arm.
The fire that circled around Elsa's arm started to burn. Elsa's instinct was too fight off her attacker and ice erupted from her body. It was such a strong and cold energy that the woman released her. Elsa collapsed on the ground and held her arm screaming.
Fé laughed. "Ha! You really are no normal Natural...you're just like us!"
Elsa didn't listen. She looked down at her arm and saw red skin. She started to breath quicker and quicker as the pain intensified.
Fé simply shrugged. "Well, now I can take you to the boss. Don't worry, though. The wound will surely be treated..."
All of a sudden a shot went off.
Fé felt a stinging pain in her shoulder and when she looked down she noticed blood. She slowly turned around to where the bullet had come from, but had no time to react to the person behind the gun.
A second shot went off and she was hit in the head. With a loud thud Fé fell onto the ground. As she lay dead, blood spilled from underneath her.
"Miss Winters!"
Jack lowered his gun and ran towards Elsa. He could hear her heavy breathing and noticed ice slowly crawling onto the ground.
"Elsa, let me see..." Jack wanted to grab her arm, but she whimpered and tried to retreat back. Jack moved closer and grabbed her arm now with force. Elsa tried to pull back, but to no avail.
He saw the red skin and frowned.
"That must really hurt..." He whispered. "We better get that looked at."
Elsa looked at him and shook her head. "No...I.." Tears fell down her cheeks. "I wanna go back to the island...t-this would have never happened there..."
"I know." Jack put his arms around her. He pulled her up in bridal-style and stood up. "Let's go to the hospital. We'll get you healed there."
"No.." Elsa grasped his blazer with her hand. "T-there might be bad guys there too..."
"Then what? I can't heal it myself and you can't either. Miss Winters, I almost never go against your wishes, but today I have too."
He walked with Elsa in his arms. She noticed the woman laying dead on the ground and closed her eyes and snuggled closer into his t-shirt.
Faraway, in a castle, a strange figure sat in a throne made of ice. He or she held a wineglass in one hand and was calmly sipping it.
"Boss." A man walked towards them. He held an electronic device in his hands and was sweating a bit. "She escaped."
The stranger stopped sipping their wine and grinned. "Oh, really?"
"Yes. I'm so sorry, but she had someone who helped her. Someone named Jack, one of her agents."
"I see...that one...he's cute, isn't he?"
"I don't..."
"But..." The strange figure let out a sigh and stretched out their arms. "Not as cute as our ice-queen. Send another unit after her."
"Understood!"
The man hurried off while the stranger took another sip and chuckled. They pulled the glass from their lips and looked at the wine circling around.
"I hope I can meet you soon...Elsa Winters..."
"I hope we're done here soon."
Elsa sat on a hospital bed. A bandage was wrapped around her lower-arm. The doctor told her that it would eventually heal, but not quickly. At least she didn't had to rub some medicine on it, since she was an ice-Natural. Her body would be healing the wound on its own.
"Elsa..." Jack sat down next to her. "We got off lucky today."
"I know." Elsa nodded. "And I'm sorry. I should've come up with a better plan...we almost got killed."
Jack looked at Elsa. He put his hand on her shoulder. "Els...it's also my fault. I didn't knew that they were that strong."
"Me neither!" Elsa looked back at him. "I didn't even knew that they wanted to kidnap me instead of killing me! If I knew that then..." She lowered her eyes. "...then I would've come with them instead of..."
"Don't." Jack moved his hand around her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Elsa blushed as she was nestled against his chest. Jack clenched his hand a bit tighter around her arm. "I don't know what I would do if I lost you."
Elsa put her hand on his chest. She could feel his beating heart underneath her palm.
Jack spoke up again and said; "The year that you were gone...I...I thought that I was going mad. One moment you were in my life and a few hours later you were...presumed dead."
Elsa leaned back and her eyes met his. "But you...you pulled through."
"No, I..."
"Miss Winters!"
Jack and Elsa both jumped. Hans was suddenly standing in the doorway. They both stood up.
"Hans!" Elsa said. "What are you doing here?"
"Agent Guardian called me...miss Winters, what were you thinking?!" Hans folded his arms and glared at her. "You went to an obvious trap without any back up!"
"Jack was my backup." Elsa said calmly.
"Right...and that went all well for you."
"Well, it's not her fault!" Jack said. "They somehow called her phone and made it seem like you and Anna were calling her! We of course knew that you weren't calling her, but decided to take Anna's call and..."
"Put yourselves in danger. How smart."
Elsa and Jack both swiftly exchanged a look with each other before glancing back at Hans.
"Okay, I know that we shouldn't have done that..." Jack said. "But...we know now more about the enemy that we're fighting!"
Hans raised his eyebrows. "You do?"
Elsa nodded. "Yes! They look just like humans and have red eyes...and they are strong. Really strong. If I would fight one again, then I would have to fight them outside of this city."
"Which you won't. Elsa, I have installed a new security system in the building. You just have to stay calm and act like not much happened. Oh and stay in public places."
"Thanks..." Elsa sighed. "What else? Do I need to stay inside until this all blows over?"
Hans grinned. "No, miss Winters, even though that would be ideal for everyone."
Elsa rolled with her eyes. "Right. Well, I'm going to Anna's house. I need to rest after the attack..."
"Miss Winters, you need to stay here for a bit." Hans interrupted.
"What?!"
"Agent Westerguard, that's a bit harsh." Jack said. "I know you're mad, but miss Winters..."
"I'm not trying to keep her here, if that's what you suggesting." Hans said quickly to shut him up. He stood up and walked to the door. He peeked around it and yelled; "Guys, you can come in!"
The door slowly opened up. Jack quickly stepped to the side.
Elsa eyed the door. She was expecting someone from the company, like Raven or Tadashi, to bring her some bad news or something, but it was something completely else and unexpected.
"Elsa!"
The door flew open. A man with blond hair stormed towards her. When he reached her he immediately threw his arms arms around and pulled her against his chest.
"Elsa, dear..."
"Tsar?" Elsa whispered in shock with a small voice.
"Elsa...honey...god...oh my love...we...we...we all thought that you died..."
Elsa could hear the pain in his voice and it made her heart hurt. Tsar pulled back. He held Elsa by her shoulders and looked at her with a smile. His eyes found hers and Elsa felt how much he had missed her.
"But you're here...you're alive."
"That's right..." Benri stepped forward. "And even with those evil things looking for you, that's all that matters..."
"Benri, Tsar..." Elsa sniffed. "I'm...so glad to see you two again...and I'm so sorry for disappearing."
"No worries, sweetheart." Tsar said. "I'm just so glad to have you back!"
"Wow, what happened to her arm?!"
Elsa's eyes widened at the voice. Tsar pulled away from her and stepped back. Behind him were Aster, Toothiana and Sandy. They all looked older than Elsa remembered.
Toothiana now had green-colored hair with a few pink strands, Sandy looked a little bit taller and Aster had a few tattoos on his arms.
"Guys!" Elsa exclaimed in excitement.
Toothiana ran forward and gave her a hug. "Elsa, we've missed you!"
"Me too..." Elsa whispered.
"Hey, I want to give her a hug too!" Aster yelled.
Toothiana released Elsa and glared at Aster.
"Yeah, no." Toothiana said. "We all know that I'm her favorite, why would she want a hug from you?"
"Just move." Aster pushed her away and he hugged Elsa too. After Aster hugged her, Sandy gave her a hug too.
"I really missed you guys...what are you all doing now?"
Toothiana gave Aster a shove. "Well...Bunny here started a business, which failed, so now he's attending business-classes."
"Oh, shut it." Aster said. "And don't call me 'bunny'!" He gave Toothiana a shove back. "And whose business failed? You got fired from your last job!"
"Yeah, but at least I got another one!"
"How did you even get fired as a model?" Aster said. "All you have to do is pose."
"And all you have to do is take care of a business!"
"Guys..." Benri said with a stern voice. "Please, don't fight in a hospital."
"Sorry, mom." Aster and Toothiana both said and Elsa giggled behind her hand. It was nice to see them again and to see that they hadn't changed much at all.
"Kids..." Sandy said. "They are always fighting, right Elsa?"
"Uh..." Elsa said with an awkward smile.
"Sandy!" Toothiana said. "Don't act like you're always the mature one..."
"Why not? At least I'm not fighting with my siblings at every chance I get."
"We're not always fighting! And you're the one who brings Elsa into this..."
"I was not bringing Elsa into this!"
"Well..." Jack took a step forward. "Let's all be glad that Elsa is still alive."
"We are." Tsar said. "More than anything...Elsa, after we heard the news...we thought that you..." He shook his head and turned to Hans. "...Never mind. Hans, what is the plan now?"
Hans looked at him. "Mister Moon, for now we want Elsa to be safe. So, even though we know that you have missed her...I must request of you to keep your distance for a while."
"Hans!" Elsa yelled. She quickly grabbed his arm. "What are you talking about..."
Hans looked down at Elsa. "Miss Winters, if you have contact with Tsar and his family, the people who are after you will surely kill them."
"Then we protect my family! I don't want to lose them when I finally found them again!" Elsa yelled.
"Miss Winters..." Hans sighed. "Do you really want to take a risk in that? Agent December lost some of her family too and she wanted to protect them as well..."
"Wait."
Everyone looked at Tsar who interrupted them.
"Sorry, but Elsa's right." Tsar pointed at her. "We can't lose contact again. She's family."
Hans sighed. "I understand, but..."
"No, you don't." Tsar said. "I don't care about the enemies that Elsa has to face. I rather die then not see her again."
"Me too!" Benri took a determinant step forward. "I love her...and I don't want to see her go again!"
"Same!" Toothiana said and she took a step forward.
Aster took a step forward as well and said; "Me too!"
"Yes!" Sandy said. "We don't want to lose her! Right, Jack?"
Jack, who had been silent, scratched his neck. "Well...true...but if Elsa's life gets in danger..."
Elsa snorted. "My life has always been in danger, come on."
"Jack..." Tsar said. "You're family too, if we wouldn't be able to see her again, then you wouldn't be either. Isn't that correct, agent Westerguard?"
"Well, we..."
"And you care a lot about her, right?"
"Dad!" Jack said with a flushed face and Elsa blushed a little too.
"What? It's true." Tsar said. "And I didn't mean it like you would have a relationship, but you do love her right?"
"Yes..." Jack rubbed his neck again and looked away. "I kinda do..."
Elsa glanced at him with a nervous smile. She wasn't sure how to react to him saying that...to be honest, she never really got to, even after all these years...
"Then we won't stop seeing her." Tsar looked back at Hans. "She's family."
Elsa bit on her lip to hide her smile.
Hans groaned. He rubbed his temples and said; "Fine, fine! You'll get to keep in contact with her, kiss, hug, I don't give a fuck, just do it quick. I have to escort her back to Anna's house."
"Why can't I escort her home?" Jack asked.
"It's too risky. Plus, you're not a Natural."
Jack rolled his eyes. He looked at Elsa. She looked so happy to see everyone again... No matter what, he had to protect her.
Even if it meant giving his life.
That night Elsa laid down in her bed, thinking.
She couldn't sleep.
There were beings coming after her family. It was the one thing that she wanted to prevent. Maybe she should have stayed on the island, but...maybe they would have eventually found her or hurt her family nonetheless.
But how was she going to defeat those beings? She already got hurt by the fire woman. Without Jack she wouldn't even be here right now...
Jack...
She sighed and turned around.
He was now dating Emily. She knew that she shouldn't feel anything anymore after disappearing for a year, but still...the feelings wouldn't disappear.
This was stupid.
Elsa jumped out of bed. She was going to get a glass of milk. Maybe that would help her sleep.
She went down to the kitchen, opened the fridge and poured herself a glass of milk.
As she gulped down her milk she looked at the clock. It was already midnight.
"What are you doing here?"
Elsa almost choked on her milk. She turned around and saw Robert walking towards her. The man grabbed a glass himself and poured himself some water from the tab.
Elsa sighed. "I couldn't sleep. What about you?"
"Same. Couldn't sleep. I'm worried. Those things that are coming for you will surely not stop for anything...how are we going to fight against those beings when they are even stronger than super-Naturals?"
"We can..." Elsa bit on her lip. He was right. They were up against very strong Naturals...well, not Naturals...
"But..." Robert cocked his head a little as he looked at her. "Why couldn't you sleep? Thinking about Jack?"
Elsa became red. "I...I am... But it doesn't matter. I need to focus on other things."
Robert walked to the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and turned to look at her again. "Do you love him?"
Elsa nodded. "Yes. But that isn't the problem. The problem is that he is now in love with someone else. Someone better."
"That's too bad."
Elsa glared at Robert. "You aren't really someone who cheers up his friends when they go through heartbreak, are you?"
"I'm just being realistic. Didn't you tell him that you weren't in love with him anymore?"
"Yes, but..."
"Then you can't blame him for thinking otherwise."
Elsa put her cup down. She wasn't thirsty anymore.
"I was only hoping for everything to change..." She whispered in a small voice.
"Nothing will change...look." Robert put his hand on her shoulder. "Jack is important to you and you love him. The best you can do is protect him like everyone else...then he will know that your love and caring isn't something small..."
Elsa stared at him for a bit before she cocked her head and a small smile spread onto her lips.
"My..." She giggled. "This is the first time I've see you give me genuine advice...you secretly care about me, right?"
Robert released her shoulder with a grimace. "Gross. No."
"Ha! Too late, no take backs!" Elsa said with laugh.
Robert grimaced, but Elsa noticed a small smile in his eyes.
They quickly drank their glasses empty and went back to bed.
The next day Elsa was back in the office. She was sitting behind her desk, typing away at her computer.
She was typing out some reports, but couldn't concentrate. Her thoughts went to the strange beings. They weren't Naturals or Super Naturals...they were something else.
A year ago Pitch stabbed her. The combination of their powers opened a portal from another world. Why did he even do that? He killed himself for something that would endanger everyone...why?
Elsa finished the report. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. Her half-short hair fell down over the back of the chair. She cracked her knuckles and looked up at the ceiling with a frown.
Maybe she should ask Emily. But what if her ex-sister-in-law would lie?
A knock on her door caught her out of her thoughts. Elsa quickly sat up straight again.
"Come in!"
Raven walked into the room with a smile.
"Miss Winters...are you done with the report?"
"Yes." Elsa nodded and turned her laptop around. "I made sure to include a nice font that Hans would appreciate."
"A-ha...anyway, during my newest assignment I managed to find some information about those strange Naturals which have been attacking you lately."
"Hm?"
Raven turned the laptop around. She sat down onto the desk and looked down at Elsa with a dark gaze. "Those beings...they have been on earth before. Centuries before...they were the original Naturals."
"How did you..."
"The client which hired me was a historian. I asked him about it." Raven shrugged. "However...I found out that those Naturals were soon banished from this world. They were put onto an island where there was no escape for them."
"Could it be the same island that I was on?" Elsa asked and Raven shook her head.
"No. It was another one. The barrier was made from the dark and ice by two Naturals...those Naturals were the ancestors from you and Pitch. That's why Pitch tried to kill you. Only because with one of your deaths the barrier would be gone and those beings could find a way back."
"One of our deaths?"
"I don't get it either. But apparently one of you would die and the other would live."
Elsa tapped with her finger against her chin. "Well, Pitch died. And I almost did...is that why they're after me?"
"I don't know." Raven sighed. "But I know that they are stronger than us...we need to be careful."
"We do...do we?" Elsa cracked her fingers again. "Or we won't."
Raven stared at her for a second before she gasped and shook her head.
"Elsa, we're not going to use you as bait. Not after what happened."
Elsa folded her arms. The arm that was damaged was now wrapped in bandages.
"Raven, I can take it!" Elsa said. "The last time went wrong, but..."
"No buts. I know that you're my boss, but it's too dangerous. Just be safe and we will make sure to get those beings, alright?"
"Fine..."
Raven smiled at her. "Good girl. Now, I know that there is another report you have to finish, but what if we go get some lunch instead?"
A smile slowly covered Elsa's lips. "Won't Hans get to you?"
"Ah..." Raven shrugged. "I'm not afraid of my fiancé. What's he gonna do, burn me to death?"
"Ha-ha." Elsa chuckled dryly. "I would like to see him try."
"Same."
Elsa had a good lunch together with Raven and the rest of her day went by very quickly. However, after lunch she was back behind her desk and thinking.
She knew that she needed more answers. So that evening she decided to pay Emily a visit.
She quickly looked up Jack's address and then went to the address.
Elsa made sure to take the metro instead of a rental car. It would be too dangerous and she could be quicker attacked...also, one of the agents would be able to track her. She already had to sneak out, which proved to be really difficult.
Elsa stood still in front of the apartment building. She looked at the names of all the residents. Emily and Jack apparently lived on number 90, which was five stories up.
Elsa pushed the button and waited for a few seconds. After a few seconds someone picked up.
"Yes?"
Elsa immediately recognized her voice. It had been years, but that voice still irritate her a bit.
"It's Elsa. We need to talk."
"Oh, Elsa?" Emily said. "But Jack's at work, his shift hasn't ended yet, maybe you should go back..."
"I need to talk with you."
"Oh...right...come on in."
The door opened up and Elsa walked into the building. She took the elevator up to the apartment. In the elevator she quickly checked out her appearance. She went through her hair with her hand. Maybe she should paint it. Then those beings wouldn't recognize her at all...
The door of the lift opened up and Elsa stepped out into the hallway. She walked to number 90 and saw that Emily was already waiting in the doorway.
"Elsa. Long time no see." Emily said. Her yellow eyes looked at Elsa and her long black hair was tightened into a low ponytail.
"Same here." Elsa walked towards her.
"Let's talk inside."
The two woman walked into the house. Elsa whistled between her teeth. They had a nice apartment! Their living room was pretty big, but not too big. A leathery couch was standing in the middle together with a few chairs. In front of the couch was a tv and on the wall were a few old photos.
Elsa looked at the pictures. She saw photos from Emily's childhood and her own. Smiling faces of a young Emily, Pitch and their family looked at her. She also saw an old photo of her and the moon-family.
"Elsa." Emily snapped her out of her thoughts. "Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thank you." Elsa sat down onto the couch. "Look...I'm sorry for what happened...I did not intend for your brother to die...I..."
"It's fine." Emily sat down next to her. She looked at her. "You weren't even aware of his plans, were you? Plus, I never really liked him. He was always lying to everyone, including me, his own sister. He tried to get dad's company, but in the end he failed. So he went after you. Truly, if I had known that he would try something like that then we could have stopped you."
"But...I think you knew."
"Huh?" Emily looked at her with big eyes. "Elsa, I don't know..."
"Stop." Elsa sighed. "I know you longer than yesterday, Emily. And I know you must have known about your brother's intentions. Now, you were against it, but also with it...I mean, with me gone you could have Jack, right?"
Emily stared at her for a few seconds before she suddenly changed her attitude.
"Why are you always so annoying?"
She leaned back and groaned. Elsa narrowed her eyes at her.
"Fine. I knew about his plans." Emily said. "But I had no idea if it would work. According to the rules, one of you would have to die for the portal to open. The one who would survive would be taken by those upper Naturals and get a life filled with power. Pitch didn't knew that he would die, but it was a risk that he was willing to take."
"Then..." Elsa bit on her lip and looked down. "Did he even love me?"
"I don't think so. He was just using you. I mean, he knew that you would loose your trust in him and would go after him."
Elsa felt her heart drop. She wasted her years on someone like Pitch...she clenched her fist and looked at Emily with fierce eyes.
"Em, tell me where the next one is."
"Huh?" Emily was taken aback by her answer. She had expected for Elsa to crumble down, not to for her to gain strength.
"I except that their main base is close by. But they are sending one by one after me...they must have some sort of unit or assassin in this city."
"What? I don't know..."
Elsa grabbed her shoulders. "Emily! If I don't defeat them, then they will hurt everyone I know! Including Jack!"
"But I really don't know! I did hear from a friend of my father that a lot of buildings down at the square have been rented lately...maybe you can look there?"
Elsa released her shoulders. "Okay...then I look there first. But not before I change my clothing."
"H-huh?"
"I can't go like this. What if there are camera's? That will bring the company into danger."
"Right." Emily stood up. "I have some old clothing that you can try on, come on."
Elsa stood up with a smile. Emily hadn't changed. Which is why it was so easy to see past her lies...unlike with Pitch.
"Wow, I would never recognize you."
Elsa stood in front of Emily. Her shorter hair was tight up into a small ponytail. She was wearing black shorts and a black t-shirt. Elsa also got a blue cap on.
"But..." Emily cocked her head. "Isn't the cap a bit too much?"
"Eh." Elsa shrugged. "The cap makes sure that my face isn't recognizable. But, thanks! I gotta go!"
Elsa thanked Emily and ran out. She grabbed her phone as she stood in the elevator. According to the housing websites only one building was rented this week. She was going to break into that building and see if there were any beings for her to take out.
Elsa stepped out of the elevator when suddenly someone stopped her.
"Elsa?"
She looked up to stare into two familiar blue eyes.
It was Jack. He was staring at her with wide eyes and was apparently out of breath. His tie hang a bit looser than usual and his hair was a bit messy.
"J-Jack?!" Elsa screeched. "What are you doing here?!"
"What am I doing here? I live here! What are you doing here?! Everyone was worried sick, we have been looking all over you! You were suddenly gone, we thought that one of those beings got you...I only went home to tell Emily that I would be gone for the night...wait, why are you wearing her old clothes?"
Elsa pulled the cap deeper over her eyes. "No reason. Just stay here, Jack. I'll see you all in the morning."
She wanted to walk away, but Jack grabbed her arm.
"I am not going to let you go until you explain to me what's going on! Why did you want to see Emily?"
Elsa pulled her arm back and looked at him with a cold look.
"How about you ask her yourself? You two are sleeping together, right? You must know everything about each other..."
"Elsa..." Jack frowned. "Are you still..."
"Tell everyone that I'm okay. I need to take care of something."
"Elsa, wait..."
Elsa pushed him into the elevator and hit the close button. She saw his confused look before the doors shut down.
"I'm sorry, Jack..." Elsa whispered. "I have to do this."
She turned around and ran out of the building.
And so Elsa went down to the square. It was somewhere in the middle of the city. It was a huge square with a few apartment buildings and companies.
Elsa stood in front of the building. It looked like some kind of warehouse, but the building was completely closed off.
She walked to a wall. Up there was a high window. She had to go break it, but without making too much ruckus.
Elsa used her ice powers to climb up the wall. She used the ice from her hands to keep sticking to the wall. She then tried to open the small window, but it was stuck.
Elsa sighed. If Hans were here...then he could heat up until it would flow. But with her ice powers she couldn't do it.
It was risky, but she was going to make a lot of noise.
Elsa made a block of ice around her hand and stomped through the glass.
It broke away and scattered loudly onto the floor.
Elsa crawled through the window onto a medal pipe.
Strangely enough she didn't hear anyone or anything. Maybe they were in another room?
Elsa crawled onto the pipe. She stopped when she suddenly heard a few footsteps. Elsa looked down to see a girl walking down there. She had blue short hair and was wearing a grey leather jacket with brown pants.
"Dammit..." The woman said. "Why do I have to check it out? Can't Jason see what's going on? It's probably just some stupid animal..."
Elsa saw her chance. She jumped down. With her powers she made a pile of snow to land on. She landed right in front of the girl who yelped surprised.
"Ah!" The girl yelled.
Elsa stood up and looked at her. "Hi there, you guys are looking for me right?"
"Shit!" The girl turned around and ran off.
Elsa ran immediately after her. She managed to grab a hold of the girl's arm. But all of a sudden a pillar shot out of the ground.
She released the girl's arm and fell down onto her butt. The girl turned with a giggle.
"Ha! I'm not scared of you at all, snow queen!"
Another pillar appeared out of nowhere. Elsa quickly stood up and started to run as the pillar went for her.
She managed to avoid it, but was then met by another few sets of floating pillars. Elsa ran again. One pillar flew against a wall, shattering completely. But the other few were still following her. Elsa made ice into her hand. She jumped up against the wall and jumped off it again immediately, jumping over a pillar while it shattered against the wall.
Another one went straight for her head. Elsa put her hands against the ground and a few ice spikes shot out of it, destroying the pillar completely.
Elsa took a deep breath. She noticed that the pillars weren't made of concrete. Otherwise she would not have been able to destroy them so easily.
"Time for my next move!" The girl yelled.
She held her hand up and a sand-tornado suddenly appeared. Elsa looked up as it came towards her.
She already knew that this girl had the power of sand.
"What do you think about this?!" The girl yelled.
Elsa gritted her teeth. She put her hands forward and closed her eyes. She had to concentrate to pull this off.
The girl laughed as the tornado got closer and closer to her target.
"You're not getting out of this one, snow queen!"
Elsa opened her eyes again. She used her powers to freeze the moisture between the sand particles.
The tornado stopped and the frozen dust of sand fell down onto the ground.
The girl whistled between her teeth. "Nice move. But can you handle this?"
All of a sudden Elsa couldn't move her feet. She looked down and gasped when she saw that the ground was now around her legs. It looked as if she had sunk into quick sand.
She tried to struggle free, but was stuck. The girl laughed and ran towards her as she grabbed a knife from her pocket.
"I got you now!"
The girl was a mere feet away from her. But when she reached her Elsa made herself fall back.
As the girl missed with her knife, Elsa grabbed her arm, pulled her over her body and threw the girl against the ground.
The girl hit her head hard and became unconscious. Elsa straightened her back again as her legs became free.
She cracked her muscles and groaned. She then looked over her shoulder at the unconscious girl.
"Really..." Elsa said. "Kids shouldn't play with knives."
She pulled the knife from the girl's hand and put it into her pocket. Her plan was to take one of those beings and interrogate him/her. This girl would have to do for now...it was still a young teen, so she would crack easier.
Elsa was about to grab the girl when she heard a voice behind her.
"You must be kidding."
Elsa turned around. She saw a guy with brown hair and red eyes. He was wearing blue pants and a dark jacket.
He was with two others, a man and a woman. The other man had orange hair and brown eyes and the woman had long black hair in a braided bun.
"Really..." The man with the brown hair and red eyes said. "I ask for one thing and Alice manages to screw that up too...Mari, Luke, get her out of here. I'll take care of this little witch."
"Yes sir!" The two yelled.
The woman teleported next to Elsa, grabbed the girl and teleported back to the man's side with the girl in her arms.
The three of them left while Elsa stayed behind with the strange man.
Elsa narrowed her eyes at him and asked; "Who are you?"
"Jason. You must be Elsa Winters, right? Our boss really likes to meet you. You can make this easy for yourself and just surrender. Then no harm will come to you or your family, how does that sound?"
"Sorry, but I'm not going to oblige!"
Elsa threw an ice beam towards him.
But the man managed to avoid it easily. Elsa gasped as he ran towards her. She made a few ice shards and threw them towards him.
But Jason avoided those too. He punched with his fist towards her, but Elsa managed to dodge it just in time. She rolled over the ground until she stopped against a wall.
"Teleportation..." Elsa whispered as she stood up.
She saw Jason standing there with a smirk. He looked at her and said; "You have some good eyes, Elsa Winters."
Elsa took her chance. She put ice spikes around him so that he couldn't escape and ran towards him. She ran towards him with an ice shard in her hand. Surely he wouldn't be able to dodge this attack. There was no way for him to get out of it, the ice spikes were all around him. If he even moved an inch then he would get a scratch or worse. Even if he teleported.
"But are you sure that's me?"
All of a sudden a hand grabbed her hair from behind.
It pulled her crunchy out of her hair and threw her against a nearby wall. Elsa's cap fell down onto the ground. She slid down onto the ground and gasped for air. Her bandaged wound begun to stung again and her head hurt. Elsa looked up to see Jason again.
"My, your eye-sight is really bad. Maybe you should see an optometrist."
Jason laughed as he put his hand forward.
Elsa looked on as a beam of slime went towards her. She shrieked and quickly rolled over to the side. The slime stuck to the wall, but slowly started to spread out. Elsa stood up and ran away from the spot. When she turned around she saw Jason still standing there.
Elsa looked around. She saw no double image or anything like that from Jason.
Something felt wrong. Was he using some sort of toxin that was affecting her mind?
"Stop playing games!" Elsa yelled towards him.
Jason turned around to face her again with that creepy smile. "I'm not playing games dear..."
"Then how did you just..."
"Appear behind you?"
Elsa turned around towards his voice. She yelped as he tried to punch her again. Elsa put her arms in a cross in front of her and managed to block his punch, but her arm with the bandage stung as he punched hard against it.
She stumbled back, but managed to keep standing. An ice spike shot in between them and Jason jumped back.
Elsa lowered her arms. She saw Jason running around the ice spike, gathering what seemed like slime in his hand.
She was thinking fast and ran away from him. She had to get out of here.
Elsa saw a lower window on the other side of the room. If she could reach that then she might be able to get out before he would catch her.
Elsa bit on her lip. She turned around and made two ice walls on each side of her. They were floating next to her as some sort of protection. If he would attack her again, then he surely wouldn't be able to get close to her.
She ran towards the window. Jason ran towards her. He threw acid towards her, but Elsa blocked the attack with one of her walls. The wall did melt, but she was able to keep her other wall.
Elsa ran in tremendous speed towards the window. She would surely make it. Jason was behind, he could not get close to her. If she could get out, then maybe...maybe she would able to alert the others. They would all get really mad at her and she wouldn't have a hostage from the beings, but still...she would be out alive.
Elsa was almost at the window. She could already see the streetlights shining from outside.
Just a few feet more...
"Too bad."
All of a sudden she was kicked into her stomach.
Elsa gasped. Her ice wall shattered and she fell down onto the ground.
Jason was looking down at her as she laid there gasping for air. He raised his foot and kicked her a few times more.
"You didn't made it." Jason said with a chuckle.
He stopped and pulled her up at the arm. He then pushed her up by her neck against the wall and started to slowly choke her.
Elsa kicked and struggled as she tried to get free.
"My, you are really weak for a Natural. I expected more. But don't worry. Maybe my boss will know how to make you stronger."
Elsa put one hand on his wrist and glared at him with one eye open.
"L...et...g...o...go..." She managed to say.
Jason raised his eyebrows. "Don't worry, I won't murder you. I'll just choke you until you're passed out and then I'll take you to the boss."
"F...f...fuck...you..." Elsa said.
Jason laughed. "I hope that you would have something worthy to say, ice queen! I can see that you have been raised by humans! Your words mean so little...it's such a pity. If you were raised by one of ours, then you wouldn't be down so quickly..."
While he rambled about worthless humans Elsa suddenly remembered about the knife in her pocket.
She reached down with her other hand and managed to pull it out. It was small but sharp enough to do a little damage. Elsa smirked.
"What are you smiling for?! You are never going to see your family again!"
Elsa grinned. "Y...y...o...u...a..ass...h...asshole..."
She stabbed the man into his hand, barely missing her own neck underneath his palm.
Jason screamed and released her. Elsa slid down onto the ground, gasping for air.
"You bitch!" The man yelled. He pulled the weapon out of his hand and looked down at Elsa in disgust. He was ready to attack again, but stopped when he heard Elsa speak.
"You know what happens..." Elsa looked up at him with a grin. "If I freeze an entire room?"
"You wouldn't..." Jason gasped.
Elsa gathered her ice powers, put her hands against the ground and used it to freeze the entire room. The walls and everything became cold and white as snow as ice covered everything. Jason stepped back in fear when the ice was quickly advancing towards him.
"W-wait..." Jason looked down at Elsa. "I will freeze to death, I'm not an ice user!"
"Ha...should have thought of that before you insulted me and my family."
"Nooo!"
The ice crawled up onto his shoes. Jason started to feel true fear as his feet became colder. His head started to spin when he already imagined himself frozen to death. He grabbed his head and fell unconscious onto the floor.
The ice stopped and Elsa sighed. She pulled her hands away from the ground and all of the ice disappeared just as quickly.
Elsa looked at Jason's unconscious body and stood up. "Really...it's too easy to scare people."
She swept her hair back in triumph. But she suddenly punched with her hand against the wall and groaned.
"Wait...how am I going to carry him?!"
TO BE CONTINUED!