A sleeping Carolus snuggled up against what he assumed was the bed. He tossed and turned, trying to get himself more comfortable. However, as he placed his hands on what he presumed was the bed, he instead felt snow.
Carolus groaned and shivered, as he slowly stretched.
"Is it morning, already?" he asked to himself as he opened his eyes. Then, as his hearing managed to clear, he then heard something very familiar.
It sounded like…high-pitched screams. Carolus rubbed his eyes to get a clearer look, and he soon regretted it!
He wasn't in the bedroom with Anna anymore. He was back at his old hometown, and it was being burnt down! Carolus gasped in fright as he looked around, seeing numerous of the homes covered in flames, with people inside trapped.
"Oh no! No, no!" he cried out as he stood up and covered his hands. He raised a brow in confusion as he didn't feel any gloves on his hands. He looked down, noticing that he didn't have any gloves on. Tears welled up as he looked around. "I'm…I'm sorry, everyone. This is…" he muttered to himself as he placed his lit-up hands on the snow, causing the little flakes on the floor to melt.
GraaaaaAhhh!
Su-tur.
Reee!
Carolus's eyes widened and skin paled at the familiar sounds of monstrous roars. He looked up, and his heart ran faster as he saw three of many fiery creatures staring at him with hatred and malice in their eyes.
One of them resembles a panther from hell, with spikes along each side of the crook where the neck meets the head. It was drooling lava from the mouth, and it had a look of hunger.
The other resembles a bipedal tortoise with a bird skull for a face. Lava was drooling from the empty sockets and nostrils, and it seemed to be carrying a type of mace.
The other one in the center, presumably the leader, mostly had no facial features, but it too had a bipedal stance and resembled a beetle with its many arms and a glowing horn on the center of its head. On its hands was a body of a man burnt to a crisp.
Carolus crawled back in horror as the leader pulled the body apart with ease.
Su-tur.
The leader then gestured its arms forward and stomped towards him, with the other two behind him. Carolus shouted in terror!
Anna gasped awake upon hearing Carolus's shouts of fright. She sat up and looked at the extra bed, where Carolus was sleeping. She gritted her teeth and shot herself out of the bed.
"Carolus?! Carolus, what's wrong?!" she asked as she approached the bed. Carolus was still asleep, thrashing his arms about in bed.
"Please! Please, don't burn them down! Stop!" he cried out in his sleep. Anna bit her lip as she sat down and wrapped her arms around him. "Please! Stop! No, get away!" he shouted again, the volume growing louder.
"Carolus, it's okay! It's just a bad dream! Please, wake up!" Anna assured with concern. Carolus responded with more screaming. "Carolus! Baby, please!" she pleaded, shaking him. Carolus continued to shout in terror, before,
"AAAHH!" Carolus's eyes opened as he screamed again, before he looked around, panting in exhaustion, heart still beating. "W-Wha? Where," he panted before he felt a pair of arms tightened their hold around him. He looked up and screamed in shock.
"Who are you?!" he asked, pointing to Anna, not recognizing her thanks to her frizzled hair. Anna gasped and gestured him to relax with one hand while fixing her hair with the other.
"Carolus, it's me; Anna! Please, settle down!" she assured. Once he heard her voice, Carolus stopped panicking and stared at her.
"…Anna? Is that you?" he asked, before crawling towards her slowly. Anna nodded as she grew a caring smile. Carolus, once he calmed down from the fright, looked at his hands to make sure his gloves were still on, which they thankfully are, and then frowned and lowered his head.
"I had the same nightmare again…" he whimpered out, but his throat was constricted from the screaming, so he had to clear his throat. Anna grew confused for a moment before she remembered Carolus screaming something burning down.
"Did you have a nightmare about…what happened in your old home?" she asked. Carolus looked at her and pouted with a nod, tears streaming down again.
"They…they just wouldn't stop coming. I…I tried so hard to forget about what happened. I wanted to either forget I had powers in the first place, or just try and have fun with them…but," he spoke, but his broken voice kept him from speaking clearly. Anna didn't hesitate, and she pulled him into another hug.
"Shh, shh…it's okay, Carolus. She's not here to hurt you, anymore." she cooed, referring to Miss Bonita. Carolus just hiccupped as he whimpered.
"She wouldn't stop reminding me…My mom and dad wanted me to be happy with what I have, and that's what I tried to do. A-After all, it worked with Elsa….but Miss Bonita just…" he then began to cry, clutching onto her body. "And every time I tell her about these nightmares…she just says that they should be a reminder of why I should be hiding who I am…"
Anna gritted her teeth as she listened in.
"Oh, dear. This is a lot worse than I thought." she thought to herself, caressing the boy's back.
After a while of hugging, Anna looked at Carolus.
"Oh, sweetie…I wish there was something I can do to help." she whimpered softly. Carolus, wordlessly, just held onto her tightly, continuing to whimper. Anna, as she held him, pondered to herself on what to do.
"Oh, what can I do? I-I thought raising a child would be easy, b-but what about those that have been through…like what Carolus and Elsa went through?" she thought to herself as she began to rock him back and forth. She then sighed to herself as she pressed her chin against his head. "I wasn't thinking. I don't know how to raise a child." she thought to herself as a frown grew on her face, a tear threatening to slip down.
She then felt Carolus move his head up to look at her. Anna looked down at him, and she could see plea in the boy's eyes.
"Please…don't leave me, Anna. Y-You're the only one I know that isn't afraid of me. W-Without you…I don't know where else to go…" he pleaded, shaking his head. Anna felt the boy's pleading voice strike her in the heart, and she gulped, struggling to breathe in. Carolus then raised a brow. "Why are you crying, Anna?" he asked. Anna shook her head and wiped away the tears in her eyes.
"Don't mind me. It's just…I didn't know it was that bad, Carolus. I'm really sorry." she comforted as she then gave him a kiss on the forehead. Carolus leaned into the kiss, and he looked back up at her.
"I-It's not your fault, Anna." he replied. Anna shook her head.
"I know, it's just that…*sigh* No child should ever have to go through what you went through. And I PROMISE, I'm going to correct that, just like I said I would." she declared with a heavy smile as she wiped away a tear from his left eye. Carolus smiled again, and Anna's heart fluttered at seeing such a beautiful smile. "I may not be great at parenting, but that's not gonna stop me from trying. Come here." she said as she pressed her forehead against his. Carolus smiled as he leaned into the gesture, eyes closing with a smile, hands clasping hers.
After a while of sitting there, Carolus opened one of his eyes and asked with a small plead,
"Can you sing me a lullaby?"
Anna giggled and nodded before she grabbed him and lifted him up gently.
"This is a song that my mother used to sing to Elsa and me when I was about your age. This should help put you back, no matter what dreams you might've had." she assured gently. Carolus smiled before Anna took in a deep breath to begin singing,
"Where the North Wind meets the Sea~
There's a river full of memories~
Sleep, my darling, safe and sound~
For in this river all is found~"
Carolus immediately felt himself grow a bit drowsy at the sound of Anna's singing voice. To him, it sounded so soothing, like an angel singing a lullaby to ease his pained soul. Anna gently caressed the boy's cheeks as he leaned into the embrace.
"In her waters, deep and true~
Lay the answers and a path for you~
Dive down deep into her sound~
But not too far or you'll be drowned~"
Anna then sets him down onto the bed and looked at him as she gently grasped his hands, watching Carolus beginning to doze off, eyes closing.
"Yes, she will sing to those who'll hear~
And in her song, all magic flows~
But can you brave what you fear most? ~
Can you face what the river knows? ~"
Anna frowned a bit at the last two phrases, knowing that in the future, Carolus would have to face what he fears: fear of his powers, and what the people will think of him. But it didn't worry her; she would hold onto that promise of not leaving his side. She then felt heard Carolus snoring. She looked at the boy snoring quietly. Anna smiled, happily seeing the boy sleeping like a Cupid. She gently ran her thumb across her cheek as she continued singing,
"Where the north wind meets the sea~
There's a mother full of memory~
Come, my darling, homeward bound~
When all is lost, then all is found~
Anna finished her lullaby, and by this point, Carolus has fallen into a deep sleep. Anna smiled, leaning in forward and kissing him in the cheek again. She then moves the blankets up to cover the little boy up.
After sitting in the bed for a while, not saying anything as she watches over him to make sure he was sleeping safe and sound, Anna frowned and placed her hands on her face, rubbing them together.
"Okay, Anna. Relax. You've got this. You may not know how to raise a child, but you made a promise to Carolus, and you mustn't back down on that promise." she muttered to herself as she made many lecturing gestures to herself. Anna then took in a deep breath and then thought of Elsa. For a moment, she had seriously considered requesting Elsa to help with Carolus. However, she knew that Carolus is still a bit uneasy with the woman, even when she told him that the snow-woman would never harm him.
Then, Kristoff's reasoning came back into her mind.
"Understandable. I mean, Elsa is ice, and he is fire. So I can kind of see why."
Anna took his words, as well as Carolus's fears into consideration, and then settled on what to do next.
"Okay, so let's just stick to the original plan; give Carolus a few days, then ask him if he wants to meet Elsa, and if he says yes, THEN invite her over." Anna recited again and then fist-pumped in excitement. "You've got this Anna, everyone's depending on you!" she said to herself, before turning to a sleeping Carolus. Her excitement was then replaced with maternal protectiveness and determination.
"Carolus is depending on you." she finished before she walked off towards her bed. However, she stopped and turned back to look at the boy. Anna knew she'd still be nearby since they share the same bed. However, that didn't really seem to matter, as he still got nightmares. Anna sighed to herself as she then decided to sleep with the seven-year-old, just to be sure he'd be safe.
Gently removing the covers so she can lie down beside him comfortably, Anna then moved her arm over him and hugged him again, before closing her eyes and eventually falling asleep. In his sleep, Carolus snuggled closer to her, sub-consciously enjoying the embrace.
For the remainder of the night, things are quiet within the kingdom of Arendelle. Nobody, therefore, was around to see a group of fiery eyes staring down at the kingdom from a distant hill, some of their orifices bleeding magma, one drop landing on a small flower, causing it to shrivel up and die from the heat…
AN: Hey everyone, superkoola here!
Okay, so after deciding on what to write next, I've decided to have a small chapter involving Carolus's nightmares, to show that the boy's mental condition is…well, worse than was previously shown. I mean, I did depict Miss Bonita as emotionally abusive, so having nightmares of the previous attack, no thanks to her constantly reminding him of such, would be cliché, but also reasonable!
I also wanted to add conflict for Anna. After all; even though she's queen now, I'd still imagine her as bubbly and a bit childish as well, so I wanted her to have doubts about whether she could do this. Of course, this is ANNA we're talking about, so she won't give up! Especially since she'll have help in the form of Kristoff, her friends, and especially Elsa!
And now we have the other big part of this story introduced; the fire monsters! Who are they in allegiance with…well, with one of them; you should have a good hint.
Fun Fact: the beetle-like monster that mutters "Su-tur" was based on/inspired by one of my favorite monsters from the famous Japanese Ultraman franchise; Zetton! Just wanted to let you guys know!
Anyways, that's all I have to say for now; I hope you enjoyed it, please be respectful if you think differently, and stick around for more!
