Authors note: Hi, welcome to another chapter of the winter berry! The last time we left off Hans and company went back to Elsa's realm with Elsa who is ill. What will happen due to this decision? We shall see...
Summary:
Adopted and Raised by Freya the goddess of love, beauty and war who is an extremely overprotective mother, when older Hans was made a serf where he hopes that if he works hard enough he will gain a reward. As the day grows closer an terrible tragedy happens, Bauldr the god of happiness is killed signaling the beginning of rangarock. Or is it? As it seems something had changed when the Goddess Elsa of Helhiem, daughter of Loki, offers an alternative deal which will change everything. For the better or worse it will be seen.
Any way, enough of me blabbering, hope you all enjoy this new story and please leave a review when done as your opinions mean a lot.
Days passed, but it did not feel like it as Hans had been kept busy, mostly trying to help Bauldr, Modi, Mangi and Hemrod get used to the new environment. Bauldr was alright, he even brought his wife after a bit just in case, but to say that they were skeptical and looked everything with suspicion was an understatement.
It was not just them as well, the residents of the land were also suspicious and somewhat fearful of them. Hans could not blame them considering what he knew but he did his best and it seems that after some days both sides got used to it and began to interact more freely and less hesitantly with one another.
Among that Hans had also taken on some role, what it was he was not sure, his guess helped since Elsa was still bedridden and recovering from what happened, so he did his best to go around and make sure all the residents of her realm were okay and that their needs were met. If there was something that needed to be done he would write it down and present it to Elsa along with a proposal of what to do.
After presenting the papers he would leave and after a day or so he would get an answer from one of the servants on what to do.
When that was done Hans would spent sometimes in a secret project on the back of Elsas castle. Which he was working in right now.
"Move move, okay, there right there" said Hans as Kristoff moved some rocks, making a make shift cave, making sure it's big and roomy.
"Thank you" said Hans as he went inside and threw some seeds, drawing a rune and casting a spell which made very soft and spongy moss bed grow along with some plants which glow softly inside. Enough to see the inside but not enough to bother anybody who would sleep.
"That's nice" said Kristoff then asked "For what is this?",
"For who, it's for Fenrir" answered Hans as he left the cave and threw more seeds around, growing grass, shady fruit trees, flowers and harmless fungus and vines with flowers which wrapped around the trees, creating pods or flowers that glowed in several colors, turning the once dark courtyard into a beautiful green area.
"Fenrir? Anna and Elsas brother?" asked Kristoff,
"Yes" said Hans then hesitated before asking "Did you know that Loki is their father?",
"Yes, why do you ask?" asked Kristoff,
"Nothing" lied Hans as he continued to work on the area, making mental notes on what to do, maybe asking Bauldr and his wife for opinions. But as he did he could not help but think back at what Elsa had said and what happened.
With what has happened he has realized he truly did not know anything about her. When he got back to the realm he had half expected her to throw him into a dungeon or something, but she did not. Most of the time she avoided him, but other than that his treatment has not changed, he was still given fine food, clothing, was treated with respect, she even allowed his friends to stay as honored guests. It surprised Hans and did made him feel bad about her being hurt and made him wonder more about who she is as a person. For how could he have not known something as simple as her being Loki's daughter.
After a bit he heard Kristoff say "I wonder how Anna is doing", turning to look at him Hans asked "Why?",
"It's been a while, I can't exactly leave all the time" said Kristoff,
"Why is that?" asked Hans curious,
"And risk running into Thor and him smashing my head in with that hammer of his?" Said Kristoff "I could and would risk it, but I would feel better if I had more company, safety in numbers you know".
"True" Hans agreed then though before saying "I will see if I can accompany you",
"You will?" asked Kristoff,
"Yes, maybe I can also ask Mangi or Modi to come, just in case" added Hans,
"Alright, thank you" said Kristoff before they continued the work on the area.
Running a brush over her hair Elsa sat on the ground since she was still a little weak and recovering from the heat sickness, looking at a mirror she had made out of ice, carefully taking some and brushing it over her face, hiding her decaying and rotten half, her hands shook in anger and grief, so much she dropped the comb that she had been using as she looked down. She wanted to cry but she refused, she felt stupid for being upset that the beauty she once had was gone as her siblings had lost their human forms, forever stuck in that large serpent and wolf form against their wills. Out of the three of them she was the lucky one as she somehow was able to hold unto some semblance of how she was before.
Taking a shaking breath she looked up only to spot Hans behind her. She could not help but look down to hide her glare as she was still angry at him.
"Goddess Elsa?" He called,
"Yes?" Elsa hissed, almost snapping at him, she saw him jolt a little, almost expecting her to hurt him.
"Of course he would, he is like everybody else, thinking I am a monster" though Elsa angrily before he asked "Can I sit next to you?".
This surprised Elsa as it was not what she had expected him to say, but hid it and said "Yes" as she picked up her comb again.
Walking over he sat besides her, seeing the comb on her hand Hans asked "Bad hair day?",
"Hum" she said not interested in hearing that, Hans chuckled a little and said "Kinda reminds me of..." he shook his head "You would not be interested",
"What?" asked Elsa, she would be lying if she said that what he said did not peek her curiosity.
"Well, once when I was little my mother Freya got me ready for my first haircut, basically when all the kid hair is cut off so grown up hair grows... and I hated it" said Hans,
"Hate it?" asked Elsa now even more interested than before,
"Yes and I was not alone, Hemrod, Magni and Modi hated their own hair cuts as well so we got the brilliant idea of fixing our hair by ourselves" said Hans, Elsa tried to keep a firm and angry face but fought as she felt the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile as she knew where this was going.
"Borrowing Loki's dagger and comb we decided to take turns doing our hair and well" said Hans as he paused, his face turning a little red in embarrassment,
"Come now, too late to turn back now" said Elsa now sounding a bit chipper,
"Oh how I wish I could have back then, we all ended up looking so bad that when we were discovered by Lady Frigga she screamed to the high heavens before giving us a tongue lashing while Loki though it was the funniest thing ever" said Hans "It was so bad that we ended up having to have our heads shaved, which was no improvement as we had weird heads, spots and such on our heads which Loki began to draw on them whenever he could as a prank on us".
As the image went to her head Elsa tried hard not to laugh as she was supposed to be angry at him. Covering her face Elsa surprised her laugh and said "You all must have looked funny",
"Yes and we learned our lesson that day, no more cuts for five year old us" said Hans then added "But I do admit that I am good at grooming hair now" then gesturing to the comb "May I?".
"Oh now you don't find me disgusting" Elsa though with an angry scoff before turning and continued to comb her hair.
Hans sighted and said "I guess I deserved that", reaching into his pocket he took out a handful of seeds, drawing tunes he pressed it on the ground, removing it, from it crocuses of the colors blue, purple and white grew, taking them Hans held them, offering them to Elsa as a peace offering.
Elsa stopped brushing her hair and took a peek out of the corner of her eye. She saw the flowers and was surprised that he knew those were her favorite flowers and favorite colors as he had shown that he was not interested in getting to know her and avoided her.
"He probably learned it from somebody else" though Elsa before continuing to brush her hair, ignoring him, it was going to take a lot more than flowers and funny stories to even come close to get on her good side due to the stunt he pulled. Though she did admit that his charm almost made her want to forgive him... almost!
Getting the idea Hans said "Alright, I will leave you then, I have to go to midgard" getting up Elsa almost jumped before he promised "To visit Anna, not running away, I will be going with Kristoff, Skumring and Modi" with that he placed the flowers down before getting up and walking out of the room.
As he did Elsa placed the comb down and turned to look at the flowers. Getting up she walked over and touched them, gently caressing them. It had been so long since she had touched flowers, she then took them and pressed her nose and smelled them as she though "Thats how they smell like... I guess I did forget how they were before". With a sad frown she placed them down.
Later:
"Do we have to go visit the snake?" said Modi as he, Kristoff and Hans took turns rowing down through the rivers that led around the trees
"You did not have to come" said Hans as he took over for Kristoff,
"I know and I regret saying yes because that snake will most likely eat me when it sees me" complained Modi,
"Hey, have some respect! Her name is Anna and she is a she, not an it" Kristoff snapped at him,
"How am I supposed to know!?" Modi snapped back,
"Enough you too! Do you want to alert all the nine worlds where we are?!" Hans snapped at them as they arrived at the lake, when they did they noticed something odd about it.
It was quiet, a little too quiet. Hans looked at Kristoff, he shared the same look as he dipped his hand into the water, hummed a little and said "The water is still, maybe she is not here",
"That's odd, isn't she always here?" asked Hans,
"Yes, unless she decided to move" said Kristoff then thought and suggested "We can call her and see if she will come",
"Call her?" asked Modi,
"There is a secret temple dedicate to her nearby, there is a horn there we can use to call her" said Kristoff,
"We can use that, can you show us where it is?" asked Hans, to that Kristoff got a look and said "No",
"No?" asked Hans confused while Modi snapped "Why not!?",
"You know why" Kristoff hissed at him. The two glared at one another, a fight sure to happen, but Hans jumped in and said "We can have Modi watch the boat while me and you go to the temple".
The two looked and Kristoff said "Alright, but this brute will not know where it is",
"Why? It's not like I can do anything" hissed Modi,
"How do I know you will not tell your father?" Kristoff hissed back "I will not risk having you know because for all I know you can tell him and one day I will find Anna smashed to bits because he used this knowledge to find and kill her",
"Now listen here you filthy giant, I-",
"Enough!" Yelled Hans causing both to shut up, glaring at the two Hans continued "We will stick with the plan, me and Kristoff will find the temple, you Modi will watch the boat".
The two gave a final glare, Modi to Kristoff and Kristoff to Mordu before saying nothing more.
Rowing to the shore they docked there, leaving Modi and Skumring to watch the boat Hans followed Kristoff.
Was rangarock happening? Or would that had been a better option? The aesir gods found themselves questioning this as the days passed.
First Freya and Frey declared war on them, then Bauldr, Magni, Modi and Hemrod disappeared! Then all the plants started to die, the season was stuck in winter and to make matters worse the souls of the dead were returning because the valkeries were no longer doing their job.
To say it was bad it was an understatement.
Sitting from his throne above the tower Odin though he could rest at ease, that the end had been changed, but now he wondered if it being changed just meant he had replaced one doom for another.
He tried to look, he tried to gage using his sight, but he found nothing. Nothing but darkness. Something he was not meant to see? Or was it something he needed to brave in order to reap the answers?
Before Odin could even try a horn sounded, at first he feared what it was but calm down when he realized it was not Heindalls horn, it sounded too melodious.
No, this was a horn of victory, a great enemy had fallen.
"Maybe Thor beat a Jotun" though Odin but it made no sense as it was nothing special, Thor destroys Jotuns almost every other day.
Getting up Odin went to seek answers only to find himself facing them. Heimdall and Tyr ran up to the tower to face Odin. They both seemed happy, which was strange considering the situation before them.
"Mighty Odin! We have wonderful news to share" began Tyr happily,
"Surtr! The giant and bringer of the end! He is gone!" said Heimdall his smile so wide it almost scared Odin as he had never seen the man smile before.
At first he stared between the two, not sure what to say about the news. It should be happy, to is was sure proof that Rangarock had been prevented. The end would never come, but he could not help but feel uneasy, if Surtr was dead then it meant that there was something out there more powerful and dangerous running around. Could be a threat to them.
"Sir?" Asked Tyr,
"Good" said Odin as he gestured them away, confused at his reaction the two left. Once gone Odin sat down on his throne and though, meditated, focusing on the darkness obscuring his foresight.
Forcing it, there was a voice, telling him to turn back, knowing what he will know will change nothing.
Ignoring it he forced through the darkness. What he saw, it made him fear.
Loud clacks were heard as Kristoff and Hans made their way up the mountain.
"So it's all the way up here" said Hans as he climbed up a cliff, following Kristoff,
"Of course, we could not make it easy to find" said Kristoff as if it was as obvious as the sky being blue,
"I know, I just never heard of the temple" explained Hans,
"That is expected, this temple was made by us jotuns, so only us know about it" said Kristoff as he looked back and held out a hand. Taking it Hans was pulled up and asked "Does Skadi know?",
"Her? No, she is seen as a traitor in our kind" said Kristoff,
"But she is a jotun" Hans pointed out,
"Yes, a jotun who works and lives with the aesir our enemy" Kristoff reminded him, Hans though and nodded, he had a point in that.
Reaching the top Hans looked back, admiring how the lake looks from the top of the mountain before asking "How did you meet Anna?",
"Hum? Meet her? Oh" said Kristoff rather uncomfortable then added "It's a long story",
"I can listen" insisted Hans, Kristoff rubbed the back of his neck before saying "It happened many years ago, me and Anna were childhood friends, she was not like how you see her now back then, she had a human form back then",
"She did?" asked Hans surprised,
"Yes but something happened, she was cursed, stuck in that form" continued Kristoff "I found her again by chance" he stopped then looked at some ice forming on the side of the mountain, pressing his hand "I was out fishing in the sea, me and Sven, when all of a sudden Anna dropped from the sky, falling into the water, she would have been crushed had I not saved her... kept her around and eventually brought her to that lake where she grew and grew and well... she is how you see her now".
Hans listened then asked "Why did you want my mother?",
"Want her? No not like that" said Kristoff then explained "I wanted to talk to her, to see if she could break the curse placed on Anna so she could be free" then sighted "You know how that ended, me and Sven nearly killed by Thor",
"I am sorry" said Hans,
"Don't be, I am alive because of you" said Kristoff as they continued their way, finding a bridge they crossed it to a dead end. Hans looked on curious when Kristoff continued and disappeared into the dead end.
"More magic" though Hans as he pressed against the dead end and melted through to the other side.
On the other side was a small stone platform in the shape of a snake, it had stairs reaching the top where there was a large horn.
Hans stood back and watch Kristoff assend the stairs. When on the top he placed somethings in the platform, honeycake maybe before stepping back and making his way to the horn which he took several breathed before telling Hans "Better cover your ears".
Barely able to react Hans listened the loudest, most ear piercing sound that rang from the horn and across the valley. It was so loud it vibrated the area and even made a couple of trees fall.
Cursing Hans held his ears which were ringing from how loud that thing was. Meanwhile Kristoff was not bothered, he just stepped back and said "Give it a moment, takes a while for her to come".
Not that Hans listened as all he could hear was the ringing in his ears, he just nodded and walked away, hoping to walk it off.
Around the area he walked, there was not much to look at but it was quiet for the most part and eventually his ears stopped ringing.
"Hope I have not lost my hearing" though Hans when he tripped on something. Groaning he got up when he noticed the place he fell, looked like a hole of sorts. Like something bad struck the ground with such force he had never seen before.
"What happened here" though Hans as he looked around, finding nothing but a rock of sorts. Bending down Hans picked it up and felt it, it did not feel like a normal rock, the weight, shape and size did not seem right.
"Strange" though Hans as he packed the rock into his satchel that he always carries.
"Hans! Time to go" called Kristoff , nodding Hans left and followed Kristoff back out the area and down the bridge where a voice called
"well we'll look who is going around".
Looking around they were surprised to see a cave, inside was a dwarf. Hans looked then asked surprised "Brokk?",
"You know this dwarf?" asked Kristoff even worried as this person was too close to the temple, did he found it?
"Come on in! I got something to show you all" he called.
Kristoff looked at Hans, with a reassuring nod Hans walked over to the cave, entering he found a shop had been set up there.
"I though you worked only in your realm" Hans asked as he looked around the weapons and artifacts on display.
"If that was true I would out of a job, too many shops over there and not enough customers" said Brokk as he walked over to the table, behind him Sindri was working on something on the bellows.
"Right" said Hans then added "I hope your not mad about my intervention",
"That's fine, I still won in the end even if you did make a good point" said Brokk,
"But you both did not get a prize" Hans pointed out,
"Well personally I am glad about that, the idea of working with a head is... ugh... oh god... so gross" said Sindri wrenching at the idea of having Loki's head,
"In truth you two are not the only ones who want Loki's head" chuckled Hans as he reached into his bag and pulled out items "I know it's probably not much, but hope this makes up for that".
On the table he placed the bottle containing the frost flame from helhiem which Modgu had given him, the shards of the broken sword and the strange rock he had found today.
"What are these?" Brokk said amazed,
"Frost flames, shards of a broken sword found in the land of flames and I am not sure what that rock is but I think it has something special due to the weight and size" explained Hans,
"It sure is" said Brokk as he took the rock and held it as if testing the weight then said "Thank you, these items are better than that head of Loki, with these I will make something truly special",
"I am sure you will" said Hans with a nod farewell both he and Kristoff left the shop and made their way back down the lake and just in time when they heard a scream.
Running the rest of the way they arrived to find Anna snapping and shaking her head, meanwhile Modi was in her mouth, screaming the top of his lungs and holding ontu her tongue.
"Anna no! Stop! Spit him out!" yelled Hans, Anna growled and shook her head, refusing,
"Anna please, I got honeycakes, your favorite" said Kristoff trying to bribe his love to spit the man out. She growled, not even her favorite treat would convince her to spit the brute out.
"Anna trust me, you do not want to know where he has been" insisted Hans, she looked at him skeptically so he gestured her to come closer.
She went down and he whispered something to her, what Hans said Kristoff did not know but Anna looked horrified before spitting Modi out, once out she screeched loudly and in disgust before dunking her head under water, probably washing her mouth then lifted up and proceeded to run her tongue over every nearby mountain as if trying to scrub her tongue clean.
"What did you tell her?" asked Kristoff shocked at her reaction,
"Don't ask" answered Hans as he helped Modi up, he was covered in saliva and angry.
"That monster tried to eat me!" He yelled angrily,
"But she did not" Hans pointed out only to dodge a punch. Then Modi huffed and walked back to the boat and sat there, grumbling angrily meanwhile Skumring looked rather amused, seems he enjoyed what he had seen.
"Anna" called Kristoff as he reached out to her, she gave a whimper like noise before bending down. He hugged her head and kissed her before holding out the honeycake, carefully placing it on her mouth, eating it she was happy.
Smiling a little Hans walked over and sat on the boat to give them some space, then asked to Modi "Still think she is a monster?", he did not answer.
To be continued...