The Ice Behind Bars
Chapter LI: The Truth Unraveled

"What do you mean, you're a royal!?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Anna, drink this. You had a bad fever and we have to let your body rest!" Kristoff worriedly said while lending her a cup of water. "The last thing we want is for the fever to come back."

Anna sighed and started sipping.

"I know this is kind of weird and all…" Catherine rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "But yeah… I'm a royal and my real name is Queen Catherine of Lothaelin, formerly known as Princess Catherine of Arendelle."

Anna's eyes widened and before Kristoff could dodge it, she spat all of the water she had in her mouth.

"WHAT!?"

Aphrodite stood frozen and unable to move. Her entire body stiff as a wooden board and her hands were shaking from fear. Nevertheless, that fear only grew to utter terror when she heard his approaching footsteps that tapped the floor at an elegant and steady rhythm.

It's him… It's him!

"What's wrong, Aphrodite? Don't you want to see your husband after all those years?" He sarcastically said but Aphrodite gulped, sensing the anger in his tone.

Slowly, Aphrodite turned to see the most horrifying sight in her life: Her smirking husband standing right behind her.

"W-W-What are you doing here?!" Her tone held both dread and disbelief.

How did he find us?!

When her eyes met his, she couldn't help but back away.

Stay away… Stay away!

Her mind was going wild. She wanted to run and hide from the world for the rest of her life. She surely remembered it all: The horrifying things he had forced her to go through. It nearly made her gag.

"Oh?... I just came here to see my beloved wife." He started approaching her more.

I hate you! I HATE YOU!

Aphrodite's back hit the wall and she knew she had nowhere to go. "J-J-Just leave us alone!" She begged in a whisper and cursed herself for how weak she sounded in front of him.

"Why are you so scared of me, Aphrodite? Didn't you miss me?" His smirk got bigger as his bigger body pinned her slender one to the wall, putting both his hands on each side of her head.

Please… Leave me alone! I hate you! I don't want you! You're not my husband!

But she did not dare say those words aloud. Her legs wobbled and she gritted her teeth really hard when Jamie leaned his head to her neck and ear.

"I sure missed you." He whispered in the most malicious voice he could muster.

NO!

Aphrodite started seeing things in her mind as flashbacks of her old terrible life started rolling before her green eyes.

She was no longer the strong Leanna, but she was back to her old self AKA the weak and terrified silenced Queen of Arendelle. She didn't dare move a muscle at all.

Brandon…

Heck she didn't dare scream or shout or even call for help. She couldn't help but remember all the beating he gave her when she didn't obey his desires.

"Why are you so stiff?" He slowly and gently caressed her cheek, brushing away a tear with his thumb. "Don't you want to hug your husband?"

For some reason, she found herself shaking her head. She regretted it however, the moment she felt a sharp pain on her cheek that made her head turn violently to the side.

"Do it!" He ordered with a sneer, ignoring the tingling feeling on his slightly red palm.

Aphrodite shakily lifted her arms and put them around her husband's waste. She was simply staring off as if not even aware of what was happening. Her body was moving on its own, since her mind was too busy shutting everything out.

All of a sudden she started feeling completely numb. No fear. No anger. Despite her mental state, she was completely submissive.

"Do you love me?" He asked, kissing her neck.

Aphrodite unwittingly and slowly nodded.

"Why have you been hiding from me, dear wife?" He asked as he buried his face in her neck, "Not only that but you've also been hiding something of mine." He referred to Elsa.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered inadvertently, apologizing for what she had done.

Elsa… Anna… I'm sorry!

"You're all coming back with me." His tone suddenly turned cold and serious.

Aphrodite suddenly heard the screams outside.

"We're under attack!"

"Intruders!"

Villagers screamed in fear. Thieves and soldiers emitted their battle cries as they fought against each other.

"I'll bring this entire fort down." He guaranteed.

More screams of horror and shock rang in Aphrodite's ears.

"Tell me where you're hiding her…" Jamie said while tightening his grip on her arm.

Elsa…

"Tell me where you're hiding that beast!"

That snapped her out.

Aphrodite kicked him as hard as she could between his legs and ran, making him fall to the ground on his knees with a yell. She then quickly grabbed his sheathed sword and pulled it out while he was distracted.

"Why you little shit!" Jamie screamed at her as he suffered. "I'll kill you for this!" He quickly got up and ran at her, but stopped dead in his tracks when she held the sword with both hands—since it was heavier than she thought— and pointed it at him.

He smirked seeing how the sword was shaking violently in her hands. He knew that she was too weak to even strike him despite the angry and serious look on her face.

"I won't let you harm my daughter EVER AGAIN!" She snarled.

As he breathed heavily, he chuckled mockingly at her. "Even after all that time, you still refer to that thing as your daughter?" He insulted.

She groaned in anger and pushed the sword closer to his throat, making him gulp.

His eyes slightly widened and he realized how dangerous the situation was getting, since her hands were no longer shaking. "You would kill your own husband for that bi—"

"If that what it takes to protect my daughters, I won't hesitate to kill a thousand men like you!" She yelled then panted. I'm glad Anna's not here… maybe he can't even find Elsa as long as she stays down there.

The bandage on his right hand caught her eye, but she quickly ignored it.

"You were a princess from Arendelle?!" Anna shouted in disbelief. "Then what the hell are you doing here?!"

Catherine sighed, "I'd been sent off to marry the king of Lothaelin. Unfortunately on the day of our marriage, my husband was assassinated. However, between all the chaos, my husband's personal guard helped me escape. But he was only killed shortly after and I then discovered that the murderer of my husband was his very own brother!"

Catherine was getting more emotional and Anna could see how she was trying to hold her tears back. "Only for a god damn throne!" She threw her hands up in exasperation, "My brother-in-law had told everyone that I was dead and he secretly sent assassins to finish me off so that I don't reveal his treason. I've been hiding for years from him." She sighed and her face turned sad, "I didn't even dare return to my own home and to my brother, fearing that it might cause a war between the two kingdoms."

Anna's eyes widened. Did she just say 'her brother'?! The king of Arendelle?! She gasped. Elsa's aunt!

"Do you even know what this brother of yours had been doing all these years?!" Anna's tone turned angry.

"Anna… calm down…" Kristoff tried to ease the mood.

"Of course I do! My brother has been suffering a lot! He has lost his entire family! His daughters, his wife AND his sister!" Catherine obliviously defended.

Anna opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Catherine.

"I have heard rumors about how he had his first daughter but she was born sick and weak." She glared at Anna, "And another one that got abducted by some assholes or something along with his wife! Not only that! But his older daughter who happened to be the last family he got, died of illness not a few years after that incident!"

Anna gritted her teeth at her, "You don't know anything! He imprisoned his first daughter for years and as for his second well who knows what the hell he did to her or where she is! Both Elsa's mom and sister are nowhere to be found and she even refuses to speak about them!"

"Who the hell is Elsa?!" Catherine asked.

"She's his older 'sick and dead' daughter that you spoke of," She mockingly made quotation marks with her fingers, "And whom I happened to come across in the very depth of the damn dungeons of Arendelle!"

Catherine's eyes went wide. Could… Could this really be true? Could Jamie even dare imprison his own daughter?! She looked at Anna. Could she really be his—

Anna snapped her back from her thoughts with her yells, "She had lost her mother and sister! Her father is nothing but a psychotic coward! You're completely blind to all the truth!"

Catherine frowned. "Oh am I!?" Catherine sarcastically and angrily said. She approached Anna and grabbed her arm, pulling her sleeve up and revealing a small birthmark on her wrist.

Anna was completely taken aback.

"I'm not the one who is blind here, dear." Catherine lifted Anna's arm up and showed her the birthmark, "but you are…"

Aphrodite's eyes widened when Jamie started to laugh.

She sneered at him in rage. Was he mocking her?! What a scoundrel!

"Oh, my poor Queen Aphrodite… You've always been so naïve. The fact that you love that thing so much is just…" he said in a mocking tone and wiped an invisible tear. "Disgusting." His faced turned serious.

All of a sudden the door smashed open and soldiers came running in, each one of them holding a crossbow.

"Put that sword down, love." Jamie said while pushing the tip of the sword away from his face with a single finger, and folding his other hand behind his back neatly. "Or we'll have to shoot those arrows right into your head." He smirked.

Aphrodite realized that she was surrounded and didn't have any choice. I don't care about myself. As long as Elsa is down there, there's no way he can get to her.

Aphrodite slowly lowered the sword and shoved it to the ground, glaring at the king as hard as she could and showing him that she wasn't so scared of him anymore.

Yes… he can't get to her. Elsa is hidden. Elsa is safe. Elsa is…

All of a sudden someone stood at the door way.

Everyone turned their wide eyes to the door to see who this new presence was.

Jamie's smirk grew maniacally wide.

Aphrodite's eyes grew wide with shock. No… No! NO! What is she doing here!?

There stood Elsa, panting her heart out and staring right at her mother's face with teary eyes. "Mama…!" She said joyfully through her heavy breathes, still not noticing her father.

"Elsa…" Aphrodite whispered in full concern and shock.

Anna quickly pulled her arm away from Catherine's grasp. "Yeah I have a birthmark… So what!?"

"Back when I first saw you in the woods, I had my doubts. But while I was tending to you, I saw it!" Catherine explained and pointed at the birthmark. "And that only made me more skeptical about how crazy things had been!"

"I'm not the first one to ever have a birthmark!" Anna defended, starting to feel confused.

"But you are the first one to ever have the same exact one that my brother have; the 'psychotic' king whom you happen to hate!"

Anna's eyes grew wider, and for some reason she started to tremble. "What… W-What are you saying?!"

Elsa stared at the cellar door in disbelief. That was her mother's lullaby. How did she just hear her mother sing it from the other side of the door!?

Mama!... It was mama! Mama's alive!

Elsa started banging on the door. "Mama!" She called. "Mama, open the door! Please!" She pleaded.

It was her! It was her!

"Please, Mama! I won't hurt anyone!" She pleaded again and drummed and drummed on the door. "Please…"

All of a sudden, Elsa jumped in her place when she heard screams of horror from the outside. What… What's going on?!

"Mama?!" She called worriedly and put her ear on the cold metal so she could try to hear clearer.

She then jumped back when she heard that the locks of the door were opening. It's her! She was trembling with excitement to see her mother after all those years. I didn't kill her I'm not a murderer! I'm not a murderer! Papa's gonna be proud of me! She just couldn't get any happier.

The door opened, but Elsa's eyes widened in surprise. "Aiden?!"

Aiden stood panting in front of her. His spear was covered in blood and he had injuries here and there.

"What's going on?!" She asked with apprehension.

"We have to get out of here, Elsa! The fort is under attack and they are leaving no one alive!" He grabbed her hand and started pulling her behind him as he ran.

They got up the stairs, out of the dungeons and into the halls.

"Aiden, no! Wait!" She stopped him. "I heard, Mama! Mama's here, Aiden! I have to find her!" She pulled her hand out of his.

Suddenly soldiers appeared from the other end of the hall. Elsa knew it… Those were Arendelle's soldiers, and not only that, but she recognized one of them. He used to be one of those who were ordered by her father to mistreat her.

"There she is!" The recognized soldiers yelled while pointing at her.

Aiden turned at her and grabbed her from her shoulders. "Elsa, run! Do you hear me!? Whatever you do, DON'T look back! Just keep running and get out of here! GO!" He pushed her to the opposite side and away from the charging soldiers. "GO!" He yelled one last time.

Elsa then hesitantly started backing away before she decided to turn and run. Her heart beat faster and faster and faster. As she ran, she closed her eyes unable to see the bodies of both thieves and soldiers lying dead on the ground. She ignored them as hard as she could and ran just like what Aiden told her to do. Mama… Anna… I'm scared! She was breathing really heavily since she had never even ran this much.

Elsa saw the door that led outside and sprinted faster, stumbling on her weak legs as she did.

When she shoved the doors open, her eyes widened in horror. The villagers were running randomly in panic. Thieves and soldiers fought each other as hard as they could. Villagers screamed. Children cried. Some of the soldiers were mounted on horses as they set some of the village's shacks on fire.

No…

The entire atmosphere was colored with a yellow and orange hue of the monstrous flames that grew taller and taller, trying to reach the sky. The fire reflected in Elsa's eyes as she stood there, watching in dismay. The place where she once felt safe was being destroyed. Please… stop…! She begged for the violence to end.

It was all too overwhelming. Innocent people; Man, woman and child were dying right in front of her eyes and she couldn't do anything but…

Conceal it… Do you hear me?! CONCEAL IT!

Her father's voice made her shiver and she clenched her gloved fists.

Just keep running and get out of here! GO!

She remembered Aiden's words. She gritted her teeth as she squeezed her teary eyes tight and ran through the chaos.

She tried her best to stay away from the fighting men. Sweat rushed to meet her body and she started to feel weak. She felt lost and scared and didn't know what to do. Her pace slowed down and she realized she wasn't going to make it out alive if she didn't hide somewhere.

She darted her head around, trying to find a safe place while she did her best to shut the havoc around her out. Finally, she found that the infirmary's building was still standing tall and since it was built with stones, it couldn't be so easily burnt. So she made a decision.

She ran straight to the infirmary. As she went in, she felt a bit at peace, since after clothing the doors behind her, the sounds of the mayhem outside became muffled. However, her feeling of quietude only lasted for a minute after turning into a complete dreadfulness by seeing the dead healers on the ground. She quickly closed her eyes, gripped her hair and ran deeper into the halls, trying to find a safe room.

Then she heard it.

People speaking inside of Leanna's room. Leanna who saved her life. Leanna who treated her so well. Leanna… Anna's mother… Wait… Anna?

If her father was mistaken about her mother's death… did that mean…?

"Anna..." She felt tears rush down to meet her cheeks, realizing that she was spending all that fun time with her one and only alive and healthy sister. How couldn't she recognize her very own sister? Was it because of all the times she had spent in darkness and fear? Was it because her mind was playing tricks on her and making her firmly believe that her mother and sister were dead? She didn't know what was real or what was imaginary. Was it a dream? A nightmare? What the hell was going on?!

But if Leanna was Anna's mum… then…

Elsa gasped and her eyes shot wide. Mama! She quickly ran to Leanna's— No. Her mother's room… Aphrodite. She remembered the name well. Aphrodite… NOT leanna. Aphrodite!

Elsa approached the doorway, eager to be reunited with her mother after so long. She just wanted to hug her forever and never let go. She wanted to embrace her mother and sister and cry and cry all her pain out until she didn't have any tears to shed.

Then she saw her. Yes. Her mother's face. Her mother's green beautiful eyes. Her mother's long dark brown hair. It was her and no one else but her beloved mother. "Mama…!" She said with joyful tears.

But for some reason her mother was staring at her with utter worry and shock and was only able to say: "Elsa…"

All of a sudden Elsa felt a sharp pain at the back of her head and she fell to her knees, the world around her spinning. She could hear her father's laugh and her mother's cry. But all the sounds were muffled somehow. Pa—… Pa?... She felt confused and couldn't think straight. The room started to turn black and her mother's cries grew louder, calling her name over and over in concern.

Elsa then collapsed to the ground with the entire world turning black.

"Anna… please, try to calm down!" Kristoff said with concern all over his face by seeing how violently she was trembling.

"Y-You're not making any sense!" Anna yelled at the other strawberry blonde.

"You probably have a pretty thick skull, darling." Catherine was being harsh now so that the younger woman could finally wake up from the lie she was living. "You happen to have the same hair color as my brother and I." She huffed sarcastically, "You even have the same eye color."

Anna clutched her head and gritted her teeth, feeling a slight headache. I don't understand! What is happening?! She didn't know who to believe anymore.

Kristoff glared at the older woman. "Stop this nonsense! What are you doing to her?!"

"She's probably waking up from a very long dream." Catherine deadpanned. "You know… Sometimes people don't want to hear the truth because they don't want their illusions destroyed." She grabbed Anna by the collar, "You knew about it all, didn't you?! You just didn't want to face it. You said you found her in the dungeons. You want me to believe that you didn't sense anything about her when you first saw her?!"

"I-I… I-I don't know!" Tears started to stream down Anna's face as realization slowly hit her.

"I don't know what sort of thing they used to make you forget all of this, but I know that somewhere deep inside you do know!" Catherine said while shaking Anna's shoulders.

"Just stop it!" Anna shoved Catherine's hands away and hugged herself, her eyes wide in shock.

"That's enough! Just stop it! Leave her alone." Kristoff tried to shield her but Catherine gave him a look that clearly meant 'Stay out of it. It's for her own good.'

"Guess what, sweetheart?" Catherine started, "The psychotic king is your father! I am your aunt! And Elsa is your SISTER!"

"NO!" Anna shrieked.

Catherine grabbed her by the collar again. "Wake up, Anna of Arendeeeeeeelle!"

And just like that… A white flash exploded in Anna's eyes as old memories started to roll right in front of her eyes.

She saw herself with a little girl with pale blonde hair and cyan eyes in a big room.

Anna gasped and got up from her bed stumbling as she felt dizzy.

She saw a pale blonde with scars, laughing with her when she broke the bed.

Anna squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her head, but the flashbacks only kept coming and coming at an incredible speed.

A pale blonde woman stiffly hugging her with a big smile on her face.

A pale blonde little girl crying in the corner.

A pale blonde hung up from the ceiling of a cellar.

'Do the magic! Do the magic!'

A pale blonde little girl playing with blue flurries of snow around her hands.

Anna widened her eyes to try to actually see where she was but all she saw were the scenes of the past.

A pale blonde little girl brushing her little sister's tears.

'Don't be scared, Anna. I'm here.'

A pale blonde building a snowman.

Anna fell to her knees and hands. "I'm scared…" She unknowingly whispered to herself as if she was just a little girl.

Kristoff wanted to rush to her side but Catherine stopped him with her arm on his chest. They watched in worry as the younger princess's eyes darted everywhere as if watching an invisible film.

A pale blonde hugging her.

'I'll never let anyone hurt you. I promise.'

Anna gripped her hair and put her forehead on the ground as the headache grew bigger and bigger and bigger.

A pale blonde woman staring terrified at everyone in the room.

'Don't worry we won't hurt you.'

A pale blonde with wounds on her back.

Anna's tears started streaming down her face. "I'm so sorry…!" She apologized for not being able to stop the torture that her sister had gone through.

She whimpered feeling that her head was about to explode. The scenes were flashing randomly. Some were about when she was small and young and others were about her recent life with Elsa. She didn't know where she was anymore. Her room. A castle. The stables. The fort.

Wait… A ballroom?

A pale blonde creating snow cliffs in the ballroom as Anna jumped on each and every one of them.

A pale blonde worriedly calling for her.

'Anna!'

Anna screamed, feeling that the headache was ripping apart her skull.

A pale blonde.

A pale blonde!

A PALE BLONDE!

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

A huge white flash lightened her mind and everything finally went silent as the visions finally subdued.

Anna was on her hands and knees, breathing heavily with sweat covering her entire body.

Kristoff and Catherine rushed to her side and kneeled down to check on her. They exchanged worried looks since Anna was still staring on the ground.

Their eyes widened however when Anna slowly lifted her head and stared at the window outside.

One single tear went down her cheek and she furrowed her eyebrows sadly. Her mouth slowly opened but all she was able to barely say was…

"Elsa . . . "

Her fists slowly clenched.

"My sister. . ."

What better music to hear when Anna's memories are being uncovered than The Truth Unravels - Two Steps From Hell?