Part 2 of Hans Plays Hero. Astrid from HTTYD is making a cameo here! I love HTTYD as much as Frozen:) I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. A LOT ;)
"Hans, can you stand?" A guard asked, lifting Hans' head.
"Can he breathe?"
"Is he even alive?"
Questions surrounded him and hammered his skull in merciless words. He stumbled to his feet, shaking. "I... I reckon I'm all right." He replied, lightheaded. He put a hand to his forehead and shivered.
"I think we should go back." Astrid commanded. "We can fix this winter later, but Hans looks in dire need of help." She tugged at her knotted blonde braid, thinking.
"Can you walk, Hans?" Another guard asked.
"I can." Hans strode forward a few steps, then back.
"Let's head down." Astrid sheathed her sword and motioned for them to retreat down the stairs.
A cold, tingly feeling was flickering inside Hans's heart. Sometimes it felt like a tiny needle and other times a soft shove. He thumped his chest with his hand, trying to dissolve the feeling.
They reached Elsa's bedroom, Astrid pulled out the hilt of her sword.
"Step back, men." She grabbed the blade and smashed open the door, which gave way in a loud creak, revealing the sobbing queen kneeling by her bed.
"Before any of them could say a word, Elsa spoke, her voice heavy and fearful. "I hit him in the heart with my powers. He'll freeze to death if he doesn't get a kiss from his true love. The same thing happened with my sister Anna when we were children."
"But she's alive!" Hans protested.
"She was only hit in the head, and a troll we went to healed her. But he warned me a hit in the heart was much more dangerous."
"Sorceress! Witch!" A guard shouted, jabbing a finger at her. "What good do you do besides hurting people?"
"STERLIN!" A guard named William roared. "SHUT UP, YOU DAFT DOG!"
"Let her continue!" Astrid cut in.
"G-Go to your true love. I hope she is near." Elsa shook all over, tears pouring down her face.
"Princess Anna." Hans breathed. "I love her. I must return."
"I hope you think better of the state you left Arendelle in, queen." Astrid hissed before they departed. "Letting the kingdom waste away because of your foolish fears." She smirked and turned away.
Once outside in the snow again, William again spoke, glancing behind him anxiously. "I think we should be kinder to Elsa. She seems traumatized." No one replied as they loaded themselves on their horses. As Hans was jumping on his, he felt a crunch in his heart and the cold needle in his heart turned into a cold penknife.
"More of your hair is white." Astrid observed. "Hold on tight Hans."
Astrid in lead, the party galloped down the mountain, not wasting a second for anything. Hans gripped on to the reins as tight as possible, wishing they were back already.
Almost an hour later, he almost sobbed in relief to see the kingdom come into view. By this time, his heart felt like it was squeezed by a large fist made of ice. He couldn't walk straight and he felt cold all over, not a normal chill but a cold that came from inside of him- a hopeless and fearful chill that zapped him of joy or warmth or happiness. The guards helped him inside the large castle library right inside te entrance gate with the roaring fire that did not warm him at all. He barely heard Anna run up to him and scream his name, grabbing him in her arms as he slumped on the couch.
"Hans!" She screamed. "What's wrong with you! Where's Elsa?"
"Your sister hit him in the heart with magic and refused to return." Astrid explained from the doorway, where she and the guards had been respectfully standing.
"She told me-" Hans sputtered out, clutching himself, "-that only a true love's kiss would heal me."
"We'll give you two some privacy." Astrid mumbled, following each other out. The doors closed and Anna and Hans were left alone.
"What happened exactly?" Anna questioned, kneeling besides the prince. Her strawberry blonde hair was in two twin braids down her chest hidden under an emerald green cap, and she was wearing a large green buttoned overcoat over a long sleeved light green dress that reached her black booted feet. The playful cheeriness he had seen in her during the coronation was gone, a serious face replaced it.
"Anna, you have to kiss me, now." Hans begged. More than half of his hair was white and to his horror frost began to climb up his wrists and neck. Was Anna shaking as well or was it his vision? "A true loves kiss." He reminded.
With pity, Anna sat down on the couch next to him, smoothing out his ginger-white hair from his face stared into his emerald eyes, smiling warmly. To Hans's relief she began to lean in with her smooth pink lips puckered, her teal eyes fluttered shut. He could smell her now too, cinnamon and sweet soap mixed together in a warm haze. He closed his eyes and leaned in to kiss her back, her lips were just a millimeter away from his-
Suddenly she stopped and pulled away slowly, dropping his chin- a wicked grin on her innocent face. "Oh Hans, if only someone loved you."
"What?" He gasped, reaching for Anna but nearly falling off the couch. Anna pulled back, smirking at him tantalizingly.
"Oh, you thought that was all so easy." She drawled, stepping back further and further. "Preying on hapless little princesses like me for our kingdoms? Not so fast ginger."
"What?" Hans was bewildered.
She tipped her head back and laughed, slowly strolling to the back of the library. "Who was dumb enough to think a princess like me would be cowardly enough to agree to marriage on the first day? Hans." She walked to the windows and drew the heavy curtains, shutting out the light outside. "Who was dumb enough to challenge himself to a wickedly talented queen like Elsa? Hans." She extinguished a burning candle with her fingertips. "Not that Elsa matters anyway." She mumbled, strolling back to the fireplace. "Who was dumb enough to think trickery with your sideburns and wit would earn you a kingdom you never deserved? Hans, Hans, HANS!" Grabbing a blue water pitcher from the coffee table, with passion she hefted it and dumped all the water onto the roaring fire, killing it immediately. The wood hissed and steamed as the fire was extinguished by the water.
"No!" Hans shouted, throwing an arm out to the dying embers, his only source of light and hope.
"Yes." Anna smiled acidly, dropping the tin pitcher to the floor where it loudly clanged, crossing her arms. "All these years, I've been shut in my own kingdom waiting for some fool of a sister to let me in. My own parents rejected me. I was the useless spare. And now that fool of a sister is gone, probably dying of fear right now, this kingdom is finally mine. MINE!" She kicked the fallen pitcher
To enunciate her point, sending it clanging down the library floor. "And, I'm not going to let some stupid little prince who thinks he's so smart ruin this opportunity."
"Anna, please." He begged.
She walked right up to him and tipped his chin up, forcing him to stare in those teal eyes he once saw as cute and innocent but now dreaded to look into. "I play all my men like this Hans. Turns out your as dumb as the rest. Bye little Hansy! I hope freezing to death is fun."
With a twist of her heel, she marched out of the library- "and one more thing Hans. All I have to make sure you're dead, and Elsa is banished, and the kingdom will be mine." She slammed the doors shut and locked them.
"No!" He shouted, trying to get up but instead falling off the couch onto the cold floor. He crumpled on the floor, out of breath. He couldn't move. He could only shiver. He was dying, freezing, fleeting away. He felt the rest of his hair turn white. Panting quietly, he could hear Anna in the next room.
"H-he's dead." He heard her sob. "We said our vows with him in my arms, and he died there." She let out several loud sobs, choking and crying and wailing so well Hans almost believed her.
"I loved him." Anna managed out.
He heard murmurings of the guards trying to comfort her, but the pounding of footsteps only showed she had ran off to somewhere else.
The ice climbed up his chest, and Hans was left to hammer himself on his actions before it consumed his mind completely. Maybe in his next life he could try better.
XD I really hope you enjoyed the plot twist! I was just writing this and bam! I thought how amazing it would be if Anna did that. I also believe this evil Anna I created would have animosity against Elsa for 1) rejecting her in their childhood, 2) denying her of marriage to Hans, 3) refusing to come back to Arendelle. They kinda ended on a bad note, don't you think? In the story, Anna ends up banishing Elsa for the throne (a visit to the trolls provides a remedy for the eternal winter) and Hans freezes to death (WHOOP)
Next chapter: Would anything change if Elsa blessed Anna and Hans's engagement for marriage?