Rifiuto: Non Miriena
A/N: I'm gonna kill her...
Written: 2019 - Licia
He had an idea.
But it was only a hunch, and Hans did not often bet on hunches. He didn't put his faith in something that had a half a chance of being true.
Yet, as he stood drinking in Elsa's taste, he could sense the one thing she wasn't telling him, bubbling right below the surface. Yes, she's finally admitted it, given a brief explanation, but hadn't fully explained it.
He slid his arms around her waist, tugging her closer despite the staff she held, and then scooped her up. "Hans!" She pulled away, surprised. "What are you doing?"
"Let's go to bed."
"Oh, no. I have to go back to Ahtohallan-"
"Elsa, it's late. You need sleep. It's your hut anyway, I'm just sharing it. Besides, we won't do anything but sleep. I'll be a perfect gentleman." He glanced over, seeing Yelena watching them, and after a moment, nodded to her.
The chief stiffened, sensing the change in the air, almost as though she knew what he had been planning, playing at. Yelena had been watching the young man for weeks, noted how he seemed to lower his intelligence whenever Elsa said anything about the- she sighed. The only time she hadn't seen the spark of deceit in his gaze was when Elsa had said the legend was real. Yelena know enough of the Isles to know they did not subscribe to legends; when their whole kingdom could be washed away in a heartbeat, they had no time for fantasies and fairy stories that could be true.
But this- Honeymaren had told her on multiple occasions that the young man had been playing dumb, in an effort to get Elsa to spill, but Elsa- naturally trained in spotting deceit and dishonesty from a young age- refuse to take the bait. The younger woman was just about ready to tell Hans to go to Ahtohallan and find the answers there, since Elsa would not tell him. But as she watched them now, Yelena knew Hans had no desire to go to Ahtohallan; he would piece what he had together and get Elsa to go further into detail tonight, one way or another. They both said something, but Yelena simply shook her head, turned, and stepped into her hut. They are grown adults; what they do within that hut is not of my business, only theirs.
Before Elsa could say another word, Hans was carrying her into the hut and setting her gently back on her feet. He took the staff from her and rested it against the wall, before returning to her. She opened her mouth to speak when his lips crashed back onto hers. "If this... whatever we are... is going to work, you have to be honest with me, Elisabeth. No more secrets. No more lies. Just the truth."
His arms went around her waist, pulling her into him, his mouth finding hers once more. She pushed weakly against him, everything inside her screaming to flee, to return to the river-
"Hans, I can't." He pulled away, moving away from her with a growl of agitation as he ran a hand through his hair. "I told you that I'm the Fifth Spirit, didn't I? What more do you want?"
"You may have said it, but explained it? Barely! Elsa, my people don't subscribe to legends and fairy tales! They are simply that, there is nothing true about them! The tinderbox is a story, these elements you claim to be a part of- they come from science! Listening to nature, following nature- that's... something out of a children's bedtime story! I have lived my twenty-nine years in the real world, Elsa! Not some... fable as you clearly are doing! The fairy realm, trolls- those don't exist-"
"Then how do you explain my sister and the-" She lowered her gaze. "The trolls live in the Valley, not far from Arendelle. They came about after the mad queen was beheaded-" He winced. "by her son, who then killed himself. Or perhaps they always resided underground and the killings just brought them up. Nasty, ugly creatures. We went there after I struck Anna when we were children, and- they healed her, but I think... at some point, they switched her? Or they did it after we came home? I'm not sure. We were separated immediately after that."
He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting. "And this... Fifth Spirit you claim to be?"
She met his gaze. "I told you-"
"No," He started, beginning to circle her. "You gave a rushed, half-truth explanation. I have a theory, Elsa, but I don't think you're going to like it."
"A... theory?" She met his gaze once more, feeling slightly bolder, seeing as she had the upper hand, he could see it in her eyes. Gently, he reached up, caressing her cheek.
Oh, sweetheart, you don't realize the fire you're playing with, do you?
In one swift motion, he'd grabbed her by the chin, tugging her closer, forcing her head back, exposing the graceful lines of her neck. "You forget who you're talking to, Elsa. You aren't the only one trained in the art of conversation, and you're good, figuring out what to say by how I speak and what I tell you. But you forget, I've got a few more years on you in this regard." She tried to pull away, but he latched his arm around her waist, holding her to him. He slid his hand from her chin, caressing the soft skin of her throat; if he wanted, with just a little more pressure, he could easily crush her delicate windpipe- it would be only fitting, given the lies she'd concocted, the distance she'd put between them, the truth she'd kept away-
He blinked away the haze; no, he wasn't that person anymore, the one who killed unless it benefited him, who weaseled his way into things with thoughts of only how it could bring him and his family recognition, power... and hurting her would do nothing but pain him, no matter the things she'd said or kept from him. He couldn't do that to her, he could never willingly harm the woman he-
"I love you, Elisabeth Bekkrdalr of Arendelle." Her eyes widened. Why deny it anymore? Especially when she took up his every waking thought, his every quiet moment, every late night dream. "I started falling in love with your for... however long I've been here..." He studied her. "And you're in love with me, I can see it in your eyes. But because of your past, you don't let anyone ever get that close. Because you're afraid of hurting not just them but yourself-"
"Hans, you're hurting me." He relaxed his grip, removing his hand from her neck, completely unaware he'd been slowly applying pressure-
Perhaps your true nature isn't buried that deep. He shook the thought away, sliding his arm down to join the other one at her waist. "I didn't meant to hurt you, Elsa. I didn't even realize-" He sighed, resting his forehead to hers. "I love you, I truly do, but if I'm going to tell you this theory, you have to be willing to listen, not contradict, and not run. At this point, I don't care if you ever say those three little words back, but you need to know how I feel about you, and what I've managed to piece together. Again, it's just a hunch, really, and I don't often put my stock on hunches. I'm not a betting man, Elsa, so for me to even consider this-"
She had closed her eyes and nodded, her eyelashes brushing lightly against his cheeks. "Just don't do that again, please. It hurt."
He pulled away, turning from her, determined that the best way he could tell her would be to keep his distance, lest he let that small part of himself try and take control again. You could have done it, crushed her windpipe, if you'd only applied a little more pressure. You could do it again, you just need to get close enough and lull her into a sense of security; it would be only fitting, for the secrets she's kept.
A sigh escaped him. No, I couldn't. I'm not that man anymore. I could never hurt her, not willingly.
"Hans?" He turned back to her. She was nervously wringing her hands together. "Your... your theory?"
"Right." Go! Do it now! Go to her and crush her! Take that delicate throat of hers in your hands and squeeze! Crush her windpipe! End her lies and falsehoods, now! He took a deep breath, shoving the voice further and further back into the shadows. "You have power over ice and snow, that much is certain. Your mother's from this tribe, and your father's from Arendelle. You said you 'drowned' in Ahtohallan-"
"Froze."
"Right. Froze. But... you eat and drink and feel pain, and bleed. If you were really a spirit, you wouldn't be able to do any of that." He studied her, silent. "You said the Fifth Spirit has control of the elements? From what I've seen, that's true. And you're exceedingly connected to the water spirit- similar element, maybe?- to the point where it's almost... unhealthy. If it was an actual horse, you would be facing charges of bestiality." The color drained from her faster than a well drying. "You seem to be exceedingly in tune with... the other spirits, and you have a strange... attachment to Ahtohallan, whatever it is. That actually worries me, greatly." He sighed, starting to pace. "From what I've been able to glean from Honeymaren, you're connected to both our world and the world of the spirits- and if a few weeks ago was any indication, whatever you feel, the other spirits feel. So that's clearly true. But... but this Fifth Spirit business..."
She opened her mouth to speak, before quickly closing it, and he scoffed internally. Does she understand how adorable she is when she does that? "I don't think you're the bridge, Elsa." Her blue gaze widened, and she once more opened her mouth, but he held up a hand. "Not completely. You're part of it, but not all of it. I think your parents were the true bridge, and them having you- you're an extension of them, and therefore, I think you're an extension of the bridge."
He watched her plop down onto the blankets of the bed with a sigh. She reached up, running a hand through her hair, propping her elbow on her knee. She's down, now all you need to do is push her into the blankets, wrap your hand around her neck- He shook his head violently, frightened by the violence that roared to the forefront of his mind by her simple movement. Where had such... horrible, violent thoughts come from? Even when he'd unsheathed that sword, moved to severe her head from her body on the frozen fjord that day, his thoughts- though red with bloodlust- weren't that violent, or that graphic. They'd been straight forward, deceptive- Do it! Watch the life drain from her eyes, feel her struggle beneath you, even as the last ounce of life-
"Go on."
His head snapped up, green eyes widening with fear, afraid she'd heard his thoughts and was agreeing. "What?"
"Finish. Or have you reached the end of your theory?" A slow breath escaped him. So she didn't know what was chasing round in his head, thankfully.
"I haven't." It took him a few minutes before he was fully able to get back to that specific train of thought, before he continued on. "You're not the bridge, not all of it. Your parents were one side, and you're the other. They were the mortal half, and you're the magical. You are both sides of the bridge now because your parents are gone, because you have both Arendellian and Northuldrian blood in your veins, which is what makes you the connection between the two. But you're not the full bridge; you're the portion that's left."
Slowly, so as to not act on what the voice was demanding of him, he took a seat at the other end of the blankets, as far from her as he could to still be within her vicinity. Her knuckles were now pressed against her lips, but he could still see the range of emotions swirling in her blue eyes. "You're not fully human and not fully spirit. You're the Fifth Spirit, yes, but you're closer to... to a Greek... demigod than an actual god. You're a half, like the dryads of Ancient Greece. You possess all the power of an elemental spirit, but the body of a human. You can eat, and drink, and bleed. You sleep and cry and feel pain like any mortal does, you just possess immortal powers."
She met his gaze, blue eyes tinged with tears. "The Northuldra call you 'Spirit' because in essence you are- they recognize and accept the magic you possess, that which makes you the Fifth Spirit, despite your human body. You are the Fifth Spirit, just not fully, not completely. I have a feeling you're meant to be, except Ahtohallan didn't completely kill you that day. You froze, but not entirely. I think you sending the truth out to... to the other Anna... the impostor... may have stopped Ahtohallan from gaining what it truly wanted- stopped it from taking all of you, which is why you're still human. It took your spirit, not your body, not your mortality. It wanted your mortality. Because as long as you're still mortal, you can still make up your mind, and still choose to leave whenever you wish. If it takes your mortality, then you're truly bound to it forever. And I think that's what it wanted, and you alerting the impostor... foiled its plan."
He hadn't been aware that he'd been crawling towards her, that he'd taken her face in his hands, that he hoovered with his lips inches from hers, even as he slowly lay her down among the blankets. "Your parents are mortal, but because of your mother's special relationship with the wind, and what she did that day, the spirits blessed her first child with magic, making her daughter a demigod among mortals, mortal and magical, the second half of the bridge between the magical world and the physical."
She swallowed thickly, but didn't speak. Instead, she leaned up to brush her lips against his-
And in one swift motion, he'd shoved her back down, his hands going to her windpipe and proceeding to crush it.