Chapter 5: More than you wished for

At the end of the shortest day of the year, Beira felt the contractions. It was the most difficult birth she ever had, and soon, she realized that she needed help. She called in Hena, who was surprised to be summoned. She had always avoided this, being perfectly able to give birth on her own, having done that thousands of times when she was a goddess and about a hundred times since she became mortal, but this time, something was different, something was wrong. While she wasn't as fragile as humans, especially not in the winter, she was still mortal and could die from childbirth, and that was something she would not accept.

The reason why she never requested hags' help before was because of their nature. She didn't know if she could trust them to not run away with her newborn, overcome by their cravings. But this time, she was desperate, so she used all mind control she could on Hena until the hag was a mere puppet.

On Moon's everlasting glow, was she in for a surprise. No wonder this birth was difficult. After many painful hours, Beira finally gave birth to not one but TWO children. In her haze and fatigue, her control of the hag slipped and she noticed Hena try to sneak out of the room with one of the children. Beira called in a freezing gust and slammed the door in her face.

"You dare?!"

Hena turned around with a broad grin, her teeth a flash of black decay.

"No wo-wo-worries, oh, Dark One. I was just g-g-g-going to wa-wa-wash the babe."

Beira demanded she brought her child back and sent the hag away. The twins were wailing, drilling a hole in her ears and she would have loved some help with them but she was too tired and in too much agony to be able to control the hags and so she was stuck with them alone.

She nursed them to sleep to shut them up, and put them in the crib, which thankfully, they were small enough to fit in together. She collapsed on her bed and froze the door to her chamber, so hags wouldn't get any ideas while she rested and looked over at the sleeping twins. They were going to be so much work and she hoped they would be worth it.

The first few days were the worst. Beira had to care for the twins alone and as feared, they were twice as much trouble as a single newborn. The only good thing she noticed was that whenever they were close to each other, they cried less and slept better, and so to avoid unnecessary wailing, she kept them together at all times. If they could comfort each other, then less work was required of her.

She picked name Elsa for the girl, it was one of the names she had used several times before but it seemed to suit her. She wasn't sure what to call the boy so she called him Fooar for now.

The twins resembled their father in some ways - his true invisible-to-mortals form, not his attempt at looking human. Their hair was white like the clouds but thankfully their skin was fair and not blue. She suspected they would possess their father's elemental gifts but she got a surprise on that front as well.

They were only a few weeks old when Elsa showed her first ability. Beira brought her to her lap to nurse her and tried to eat as well, and the little girl stuck a hand in mother's bowl. Beira would've been furious if not for the fact that the stew froze under the girl's touch. Beira was in awe. Not only, the girl showed signs of magic the youngest any of her children had, but it was winter magic, just like her's. None of her previous children had abilities like that even though they were all usually born at this time of year. Her hopes were confirmed that mating with an elemental being would produce the best results.

Beira had a lot of hopes for the twins now and couldn't wait to absorb their powers but knew that she had to be patient. She needed them to be older and more powerful which meant, yet again, years of training them. She was growing tired of the routine and had long ago lost track of years she had done this but deemed it necessary. She was so close to regaining her divine powers, she could taste it on the tip of her tongue. Maybe these twins would be the last children she needed to achieve her goal.

Spring came, Beira traveled to the Well again and came back to, what else, wailing infants. She unfortunately still didn't trust her hags who were most tempted with the young flesh, and so she had to leave the twins alone for their safety, so of course, her concern for them was rewarded with the noisiest punishment.

The last few months had been brutal on her. Before they were even born, Enlin had stalked her and tormented her any time he saw her outside, demanding to see his child. Once winter came, she could fend him off but since she didn't trust the hags, she could rarely ever leave the mountain. Now that spring came, she was powerless against him again and so she would have to stay underground until winter, guarding the children she worked so hard for.

"You brats better appreciate how much I'm sacrificing for you," she yelled at them as they cried, raising their hands to her. She fed them quickly and went into her deep slumber to rejuvenate her body.

She awoke to a room adorned with tendrils of white frost.

"Nice job, Elsa," she said to her daughter and took care of her first.

Later, she looked down at Fooar with disappointment, who blinked at her with his big blue eyes still filled with tears.

"I don't know why I even bother."

She was starting to lose hope that he would show any signs of magic but then remembered how all of her boys usually displayed their abilities later than girls and decided to wait, hoping her patience would be rewarded.

"You're lucky to have a patient mother like me."

More months passed and she refused to give the boy a proper name until he showed her some magic but his best ability seemed to be crying. Maybe their heritage was impeding it. Their father was an elemental who would be powerless underground. In fact, living here would kill him. While the twins were only half of him, and obviously could survive underground, it could be affecting them.

Until one day, she learned that the boy deceived her all this time. When he was in a fit of anger because Beira took his wooden toy and gave it to Elsa, frost built up on the floor under his hand.

"You little sneak! All these months you led me to believe your sister was creating the frost!"

Since she was a deity of her word, she decided on a name for him. The frost reminded her of Old Man Winter, Jokul Frosti, and so she called him Jokul.

She observed her children, who were now fighting for the toy and wasn't sure what to think. Two issues bothered her. Both of her children displayed winter powers. It was the first time she ever had children like that and wasn't sure what it meant as far as what type of ability she would gain from them. Would she get a boost to her winter powers from them or would some of her divine powers return? But second of all, they displayed their magic all year long. Their abilities were not encumbered by the seasons like hers and she didn't know why. With the right training, they could become more powerful than her.

She erased that thought. She wouldn't let them grow their powers to that point. She had to be careful to only nurture their winter skills and not allow them to develop other abilities which all of her children were capable of. It was then essential that they wholeheartedly believed that they were simple winter spirits. They must never find out that they were godlings.

As years passed, Beira noticed she had a definite favorite between the two. The girl was her pride and joy. She was growing great control of her powers and was an excellent student while the boy's control of his was spotty. To make matters worse, he never learned how to create anything other than frost, which was a pretty useless ability even for a real winter spirit.

When they were young, Beira read them the story of Jokul Frosti, trying to explain what a winter spirit was and mentioned that he was also known under the name Jack Frost. Elsa took a liking to the name and started calling her brother Jack, and the name somehow stuck so Beira let it be, changing his name yet again. He was more of Elsa's brother than her son anyway and so she didn't care about his name.

The older Jack got, the more he reminded her of Angus with his playfulness and trickster mentality, and that comparison made her resent him more. Would he betray her as Angus did? She considered stripping him of his powers early and getting rid of him, hags offered to help with that task as always, and the only thing that stopped her was knowing how attached Elsa was to him. The girl always clung to her brother and refused to sleep without him. He was able to calm her down whenever she was upset and was protective of her, and that was his only redeeming quality, the only reason why Beira wasn't done with him yet. She finally decided that she would have to keep them both the same length of time.

And then, he made her regret that decision.

Beira sat on her stone throne which she magically carved with her hammer and awaited her son. She was bored with this task. She had trained so many children by now, she hadn't tried to count. Her journal had all of them listed but she wasn't interested in numbers, only results.

A soft knock broke the silence and Jack walked in, hunching his shoulders, not even lifting his eyes to her.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Sit."

She pointed at the box she prepared for him and waited for him to get a move on. It bothered her that a son of hers had no dignity. At least Elsa knew how to walk proudly with her head held high like a proper child of Beira should, but this pathetic boy was an embarrassment. A slow-moving embarrassment.

"Did I say shamble like an injured sloth? Ugh. What have I done to deserve this?!"

He finally sped up and sat down in the middle of the room by the box.

"What's a sloth?"

"When will you get it in your head? No. Questions."

Why did all of her children always forget this one rule? She had no time to answer their endless questions. She just wanted this painful lesson to be over with already.

"Your sister was able to complete the task in front of you last year already. I am anxious to see how much she's improved this winter. What have you accomplished?"

He stared at his hands and she regretted asking him. What did she expect? That he was actually capable of learning something on his own?

"I learned a new trick."

She kept her face impassive but flinched on the inside. Angus loved tricks too. She absentmindedly ran her fingers through the hair of the pelt she sat on, trying to calm her nerves. Why did this boy always remind her of her traitor son? Fate couldn't be so cruel as to give her two sons like that.

"If you could not disappoint me at least once, that would be most refreshing."

He sat there dumbstruck and she wondered if the trick was making her believe that he could actually improve his skill.

"Is that what you wanted to show me? How you can sit and do nothing? That's not new. I've seen you do that trick plenty of times."

Now, he stared at the ceiling and she was losing her patience. He was as boring as the gray walls they were surrounded by. She considered taking back his name, naming him Fooar again, only children who were useful deserved to have unique names, when she noticed something. White flakes fell down from the ceiling even though the room contained no snow clouds.

"Do it again."

He did and this time she approached and held out her hand to catch one flake.

"It's not snow. You're using frost?"

He was a trickster indeed, just like Angus. She went to sit back on her throne.

"You got my hopes up needlessly then. You're supposed to grow your powers, not invent new tricks."

She crossed her legs and continued her instructions.

"Let's just see how far behind your sister you are. This task is an exercise in speed and accuracy. When you lift the lid of the box in front of you, you will have to act fast as it will try to get away. Use your magic on it to catch it and kill it."

He was slow again and she was losing it. She would really love it if her children didn't need their hand held through every task. She tapped her fingers on her armrest so hard, it was a wonder it didn't crumble. He finally opened the box and stared at the thing inside as if it was a present.

"It's a butterfly," he said full of wonder.

"And you're a genius. Now, kill it."

He stared at the insect on his finger and she wondered if he forgot how to use his magic. On Moon's glow, why did she even bother with this imbecile?

"Why?"

She hoped she misheard because it sounded like he just dared to question the lesson she was giving him.

"Questions. Always questions. It's so simple, even you should be able to understand. Kill. It. It would be easier if you could freeze it like your sister, but really, I don't care how. If you can only produce frost, use as much frost as you have to. Frost it until it dies."

For the first time since he entered the chamber, he looked her in the eyes and spoke confidently.

"I won't."

Brat did not just refuse. She made all this effort training him, get him to expand his puny powers and the ungrateful brat said "No." No one ever dared say that word to her!

"What did you just say?"

"I won't kill it."

It was Angus all over again. She had to put him in his place.

"Who do you think you are?" she said quietly. "What do you think you are? I did not labor all those years with you for my enjoyment. You exist to follow my directions. If not for me, you wouldn't exist at all."

He gritted his teeth and exploded, "I will not kill animals. You can't make me do it!"

She got up and hissed at him in fury, "Insufferable brat. An embarrassment to my name. I should just be done with you right here, right now. If not for your sister…"

Oh, how much she wanted to get rid of him already, but if she stripped him of his powers now, Elsa would question it. The girl had so much potential, Beira wanted to wait longer, to gain more magic out of her. No, it wasn't the time yet.

If she was stuck with him, then he had to learn how to be respectful. She wished she could bend his will, everything would have been so much easier, but a godling was much more than a hag. She decided here and now that lessons would end. He had grown as much as he could. She was wasting her time trying to get more out of him.

The longer he stared at her defiantly like that, the more like Angus he looked. Something inside her snapped, she grabbed him by his shirt and whispered, "Hags keep begging me to give you over to them. I always refuse their requests, thinking that their vile hands are unworthy of my children, but you just might be an exception."

He stared at her with a confused expression and she found it funny. Here she was threatening him with letting hags eat him but he was too dim to understand what she meant.

She leaned her head back, let out a well-earned chuckle and smoothed the wrinkles on his shirt.

"But fret not, child, it's not today. One day you will get a chance to be useful to me. In the meantime, I don't even want to see your face. Get out of my sight."

"Yes, mother."

He left, at least one command he knew how to obey, and Beira sighed in satisfaction. It was such a relief to not have to worry about him anymore. She always struggled with getting him to understand instructions and worried about his lack of progress. It was going to be so much easier to only focus on her talented child and completely ignore this waste of space.

But fate wasn't this kind to her. He proved impossible to ignore. From that day on, he fought her on every chore she gave him and proved just how much of a backstabbing son he was, trying to turn Elsa against her as well. He was truly turning into Angus. She punished him by separation, also hoping that her girl would learn how to live without him. His time was running out. She had to get rid of him soon.

She waited too long.

The twins' eleventh winter came to an end, Beira traveled to the Well, went back to her usual slumber and awoke to find hags in a frenzy.

"We d-d-didn't. I swear. We d-d-didn't," Hena pleaded with her.

"Speak some sense, hag!" Beira hissed at her.

"G-g-g-gone."

Hena trembled before her as if bracing herself for an onslaught of fury and Beira was frustrated, not knowing what she was supposed to be furious about.

Unless…

She briskly walked to the twins' chamber and found it empty.

"Where are they?"

Hena kept a distance.

"We d-d-d-don't know, oh, D-d-d-d-dark One."

Beira made a calculated step toward her, feeling heat build up inside her. She said in a controlled voice, "What do you mean, you don't know?"

Hena whimpered and Beira continued, "The last time I checked, your duty is to look after them, ensure they do not wander off into the tunnels, ensure they are safe. Are you trying to tell me that you failed in your duties?"

Hena wanted to run away but Beira kept her there with her power, making the hag flatten her face against the rough rocky surface of the floor.

"Last time my servant didn't keep to her duties, I turned her into a river. Since that is not an option right now, what do you suppose I should do with you?"

Hena whimpered. "W-w-w-we are looking, oh, Dark One. W-w-we will find them."

Hena's face was right next to Beira's feet and she had to resist an urge to kick it.

"Was it their idiot father?" Beira wondered. "But he couldn't have come underground, he needed inside help."

"Not us, oh, Dark One. We would never," Hena said from her ground position.

"That insufferable brat."

Beira directed her anger at the one she was sure was at fault - Jack. After everything she had done for him, he betrayed her just like Angus.

"I knew I waited too long. I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago. What are you still doing here? Search!" Beira spat and set off to search for her children.

A/N: Fun fact. The above scene was Beira's POV of Jack's flashback scene from Chapter 21 of The Gathering.

This point is where the timeline of The NOOM starts, and now, they will run concurrently. Beira is not done yet. Defeat is not an option for her.

I do not own characters or plots from Merlin, Harry Potter, Rise of the Guardians or Frozen.