Hannah's eye contact darted from person to person as her mind attempted to grasp the panic she felt inside her, while her muscles tensed and her breath quickened to a rapid pace.
"D-dark magic?" Hannah sputtered out, her palms trembling.
Benji examined the black symbol gravely.
"Yes. That is the mark of dark magic, more specifically Garth's mark. Individuals who possess magic each have a mark that identifies it to them. Every mark is different and specialized to each wielder, like a fingerprint," he explained, "Like Elsa, her magic manifests as a snowflake emblem— see..."
Benji said placing two fingers on Olaf's head to show Elsa's signature snowflake mark embedded in the magic.
"Ooooh I never knew that was your magic mark Elsa!" Olaf gushed.
Elsa narrowed her eyes on the slowly growing shape on then nape of Hannah's neck.
"But how did Garth even mark Hann—" Her speech tapered off upon realization.
"The sword. It was the sword. In my ice palace, when you and Jess were kidnapped. Garth had it pressed to you right here." Elsa gently touched the origin of the black mark.
"No..." Jess whispered shakily, sitting back on her heels.
"Can it kill me?" Hannah glanced up at Benji's watering eyes.
"I'm not going to lie to you darlin', it could. Dark magic is not often used without consequences. It depends on what Garth's intentions were. He is a twisted man, my brother." Benji shook his head at the ground.
Hannah was trembling so much her teeth were practically chattering. It was an embarrassing display of reaction, she had managed to think to herself, amongst the mind splitting fear of being marked by an evil magic wielder.
Benji began again, "I will say this; its taken this long to even appear visually on your skin, let alone take your life, which most likely means the magic wasn't meant to kill you." Benji said, almost trying to convince himself.
"Well we know he's been using it to terrorize her! He appears to her and no one else can even see him!" Jess cried out. She turned back to Hannah worriedly. "What does it feel like?"
"I don't know, it's hard to describe, like sharp but also rough and flexible. It's really cold but it's making my face heat up and... I don't know." Hannah said rubbing the nape of her neck nervously.
"Like it's spreading fast, and it becomes stronger in few minute intervals? Like it's taking over your systems, and your body attempts to fight it but it doesn't know how because the magic isn't an element the immune system understands? You feel so tired, but also like you wouldn't be able to sleep even if you wanted to?" Anna's mouth ran a little quicker than she had intended it to.
"Yes! That's exactly what it's like." Hannah said becoming fidgety under the hot covers.
Anna gingerly touched her heart. "I've felt it too." She whispered.
The look on Elsa's face would have shattered a heart made of stone.
"I'm so sorry Anna." She shook her head, and overwhelmed by the emotions of the past, and got up to leave the room.
"Elsa wait!" Anna called after her guiltily, pursuing her out the door.
Kristoff cleared his throat. "Uh— we better go see if they're alright, c'mon Olaf."
The snowman trailed behind the mountain man, turning around and giving a goodbye wave before exiting.
The three remaining sat melancholily in the silence. The only audible sounds were the wind whipping at the window pane, and Hannah's quickened breathing.
After a few seconds Benji took Hannah's hand. "It's going to be alright. I swear it."
Hannah's emotions suddenly spiked up to height she hadn't felt before this moment. "HOW CAN YOU SWEAR IT?! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO STOP THE MARK FROM SPREADING OR WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE MAGIC REACHES MY BRAIN!"
He gulped, clearly hurt, frowning at his hands.
She breathed in and exhaled heavily, before coming to her senses. Hannah cringed at her own outburst at this man who had shown her nothing but kindness.
"I'm-m so sorry Benji. I didn't mean to yell at you." Her eyes welling up with tears. She rarely let her inner fears and demons trouble other people, but the dark element now corrupting her was starting to affect her mind.
"It's okay, I understand how terrifying it must be to be in your position." He smiled sympathetically at Hannah. "I'll leave you two alone for now, I'll try to figure out a way to cure the mark."
And with that, Benji left leaving only Hannah and Jess on the bed.
Hannah tugged at the bandage on her head in an attempt to distract herself from the fact that she was crying.
"Hannah, don't be scared. If Garth hurts you, he'll have bigger problems than the imbalance. I will literally track that man down, and kill him with his own sword! If he thinks the imbalance natural disasters are destructive, he hasn't felt the wrath of Jess!" She dramatically swung her arms around as if slaying a villain with a blade, clearly playing it up for comedic value.
Hannah couldn't even bring herself to give a smile out of politeness. She put a hand on Jess's, causing her to grow more serious.
"Jess, if something happens to me, I don't want you to give up. You still have to wish to go home along with the fandom and Yvonne on the day of the alignment. Elsa and Anna need you to save this world. When you get home can you tell my family I love them? Please?" Tears dripped off her face, staining the cloth skirt of her dress.
Jess burst into tears as well, which scared Hannah more than the ever growing magic mark on her skin.
"NoYoU'ReNotGonNaDie, you CAhhhhn't!" Jess stammered out in utter hysterics.
Hannah and Jess sat in a broken embrace, both crying, for an undefinable amount of time, as far as It was concerned to Hannah.
"Jess, please promise." Hannah whispered.
"No! Nothing's going to happen to you and we're both going home!" She insisted.
Hannah was done arguing about it. Her strength was wilting.
A gasp escaped her lips as her eyes caught a glimpse of a figure not too far away leaning against the wall. Garth smiled devilishly at her before evaporating into thin air, like he wasn't ever there at all. In a way, he wasn't. He invaded her mind and could enter and leave as he saw fit.
Fear began to seize Hannah, and she attempted to evade it momentarily by burying her facing into Jess's shoulder, squeezing tighter.