Have Courage, Elsa

by WoBuHuiXie

Elsa has lived a happier life ever since the Great Thaw, albeit one in insecurity and self-loathing. As she struggles to confront her inner demons, to make new friends, and to learn more about her kingdom, a monster motivated by revenge threatens to strip the Snow Queen of everything she had fought so hard to keep. CURRENTLY ON HIATUS.

23. Ch 23: Everything Will Be Alright

I'm aliiiiiive!

I know it's been almost two months since my last update, and I can only beg forgiveness. College life is... well, yeah. But, I also have two news for you guys: Number one, in a move which I will consider as a result of peer pressure, I got myself a Tumblr blog. I will post updates there and will generally be more accessible to the masses, so feel free to check out cheffailure at your own volition.

Number Two, I commissioned an artwork from comickergirl that serves as this fanfic's title card, which I'm rather proud of if I do say so myself. You can't see it on her blog, but you can check it out on mine.

Without further ado, enjoy.

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Chapter 23

Everything Will Be Alright

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KRKRkkrrrkkrk!

"Guys, he's over there!"

"Gurahahahaha!"

"Look out!"

CRASH!

The streets of Arendelle had been thrown in a state of complete chaos for the past five minutes, drowned in thick plumes of smoke and dust. Buildings that have once been beautiful homes and shops now laid in decrepit ruins, rendered nearly-unrecognizable by the battle raging among. Adding to the forlorn atmosphere were thin slivers of frost clung to their walls and shattered windows, although piles of snow and ice blocks dotting the scenery granted tranquil pockets amidst the madness.

One pile, however, began to sparkle and swirl at two adjacent spots on the street pavement, forming two clumps of compact snow. These structures rapidly grew trunk-like and jointed, crawling upwards in the open air, until an idle observer could actually point their resemblance to a pair of legs, one that was on its way to gaining a full body.

WHUMP!

A giant fist the size and shape of a boulder slammed down on the swirling mass, reverting all the snow back to its inert state. The hulking Bergrisi threw his head back and laughed heartily, surrounded by similar clumps of lifeless frost littering the streets; each one of them had been failed attempts creating a being of ice and snow.

"Elsa!" shouted a redheaded girl in a green dress. She jerked her older sister by the hand into a nearby alley, just barely dodging a flying chunk of wreckage coming their way. Once the two were hidden out of sight, Anna rested her shovel on her shoulder and faced Elsa directly. "Look sis, I know it sounds really, really cool to have more snowmen running around, it really does! But do you have the time and day right now?"

The platinum-blonde tucked her chin in sheepishly, averting her eyes from Anna's gaze. "I was thinking that maybe we could use another snowman just like Marshmallow..."

"I know that!" Anna sighed exasperatedly. "The big problem is, he knows it too! Why else would he treat this whole thing like some sort of a whack-a-mole- Gyah!"

"Well, hello." The Bergrisi's pulsing, twitching amethyst eyeball flashed ominously as it focused on the two girls huddled together; plastered on the fearsome brute's face was a grotesque mix between a grin and a scowl, which complimented with his partially-torn face to make him look absolutely demonic. "Where are the rest!?"

The two girls didn't respond, but neither did they have to; the sound of jingling belt buckles over the giant's heaving breaths preluded a blur of fabric and leather, one that rammed himself into the Bergrisi's ribs and shoved him aside. "What are you waiting for, ladies!?" shouted Captain Himmel, securing himself to the creature by thrusting a knife into him. "Get going! I'll hold him off!"

The Royal Sisters gave him thankful nods, complying by running out and down the street while Himmel repeatedly stabbed the giant over and over with his silver cutlass.

He might as well as have been using a toothpick for all the trouble though, because the Bergrisi merely responded with an irritated snarl, snapping his fingers around the privateer. "Get your hideous self away from me, you dirty ape!" The monster then proceeded to pitch him into a wall - if it weren't for the pile of snow Elsa hastily summoned to cushion his impact, the man would've had more than a few broken bones to worry about. Instead, he simply disappeared inside with a puff.

The Snow Queen pivoted on the heels of her feet, releasing a blast of magic that congealed on the ground before her into a lance of ice, as thick around the base as an old tree. Rocketing forth, it forced the Bergrisi to twist his body at an awkward position to avoid it.

The same couldn't be said, however, for the old pickaxe that sunk into his flesh immediately afterwards.

The great beast stared at the mining tool lodged into his ridged shoulder with a confused expression, an act that did little to deter a second pickaxe whistling through the air as it spun towards him. It bounced off the giant's forehead by the handle, knocking the monster's chin a few inches backwards.

"Is everyone alright?" shouted Kristoff, balancing another pickaxe in his hand. The ice harvester raised it above his head to toss at the Bergrisi, but was forced to drop it when the giant changed tactics and stormed after him instead while roaring ferociously and rearing a massive hand back for a punch. The young man tried to dodge the blow by diving to the side, but the giant shifted gears mid-rampage and kicked him instead - Kristoff slammed his back against a cracked wall, stunned and gagging from having the wind knocked out of him.

The Bergrisi loomed over the immobilized ice harvester, plucking the pickaxe off his shoulder with almost casual abandon. "You can't seriously believe you could square with me with such little toys..." he purred, raising a massive and scarred thumb for Kristoff to see. The giant gently rested it against Kristoff's chest, and began to apply pressure, the smile on his face growing wider as the ice harvester began to squirm and wriggle like an ineffectual bug caught under a boot. In fact, the Bergrisi was almost relishing the moment, drawing it out as long as he could just to see more of young man's sweating and panicked face. "Let's see how long you can hold out before I poke a hole through you..."

"Ngh..." Kristoff's face reddened into a shade of scarlet as he pushed back with his arms, an effort barely enough to keep his ribcage from flattening.

"Oh? You seem to be quite the stubborn sort..." the Bergrisi mused. A grin seemed to wrap around his entire face, and the creature's thumb pressed even deeper. "Excellent."

Behind the ice harvester, the wall crackled and splintered even further, spreading outwards like a chaotically arranged spider web, with Kristoff as the fly trapped at the very middle. Overall, it was painfully clear between the two that the mountain man wasn't going to last long: Either the Bergrisi presses him to death, or the wall finally caves in and buries the young man in stone.

"Three can play at this game of strength!" Out of the dust, He Xiongqiang burst into the scene and tackled the Bergrisi on the engorged forearm. The First Mate hugged it tightly, using his thewed figure to wrestle the giant away from the ice harvester.

Kristoff, still wheezing but relieved of the giant's torture, rushed by the burly sailor's side to latch to the monster as well; together, the two men managed to hold the great beast in place. "Now, Marshmallow!" he gasped.

An earsplitting roar answered Kristoff's call - the massive snow behemoth charged onto the street and socked the Bergrisi right in the face, snapping the monster's head uncomfortably close to his lower body so Kristoff and Mister He could escape to the side. Needless to say, the amethyst beast was less than enthused for having his fun cut short; he growled, countering with a punch to Marshmallow's jaw, scattering razor-sharp ice teeth in all directions. The golem merely retaliated with another vicious punch, following it with another, and then another, until he was absolutely whaling on the monster mercilessly.

In spite of the heavy fists now hailing on him, the Bergrisi retained a bloodthirsty smile as he laughed in contempt. "Gurahahahaha! You think that's enough, you mindless construct!?" He raised a hand with his fingers outspread, causing Marshmallow to stall; not wanting to lose yet another hand to the brutish beast, the snowman ended his flurry of punches and jerked back.

That was exact reaction the Bergrisi had been hoping for - his exposed eye locked on Marshmallow's exposed gut, and then he plunged his hand straight through him, his thick fingers exiting out of the snowman's spiny back. "Let me show you how far down you are in the hierarchy!" he roared victoriously; the bulbous vein on the giant's forehead swelled, and then he shredded through Marshmallow's body horizontally, bisecting him in two.

"Marshmallow!" Elsa cried, watching as the Bergrisi laughed merrily over her friend's struggling remains. She struck the snow golem's upper half with a bolt of ice, enveloping Marshmallow in magic that solidified into crystal-clear ice, less than a second before the giant stomped down - miraculously, the barrier survived the Bergrisi's execution blow. When Elsa attempted to provide more support though, the monster whipped around and changed targets, going straight for the Snow Queen herself.

Elsa scowled, scattering sparks with a swipe of her hand. A wall under her command erected itself towards the sky, connecting one side of the street with another. The Bergrisi did not pause for even a single heartbeat though; before the Snow Queen could add fortifications, he ran even faster, applying his monstrous speed and bulk to ram the wall in a full-body tackle. Like a wrecking ball on legs, he utterly demolished the structure, scattering many shards and chunks that fanned outwards, bouncing off street pavements and destroying sections of homes.

Too preoccupied by the mess flying around her, the platinum-blonde was hardly in any position to see the oversized knuckles until she was sent tumbled to the floor. She rolled once... thrice... seven times over, and when her body finally stopped, the excruciating pain all over her arms and chest was the only thing preventing her from blacking out right then and there.

Oh geez, he's coming! she alerted to herself. On your feet!

"Can't... move..." Elsa slurred.

"Elsa, run!" Anna screamed, raising a hand towards her sister as she ran, faster than her legs have ever taken her so far. "Elsa!"

Alas, the redhead was too late; while the platinum-blonde desperately struggled to rise, the Bergrisi had already raised a hideously gigantic, soil-encrusted foot a few feet above her head. Pressing it down on the Queen of Arendelle's back, restricting her movement, the monster then leered at the Princess. "Take one step further, little mouse, and you shall relearn to appreciate the difference between human flesh and stone!"

Anna skidded to a halt, a mixture of terror and confliction manifesting on her freckled face. Her heart thundered against her ears; all the Bergrisi needed to do to win was to kill her sister right then and there. Kristoff and Mister He stopped in their tracks too, both at a complete loss for what to do.

Captain Himmel, on the other hand, was still nowhere to be seen.

"Good, good..." the Bergrisi crooned, briefly lifting his foot high to reveal the Snow Queen for everyone else to witness. "She's still alive, see?"

This confirmation didn't provide any comfort to the redhead at all; it was akin to seeing her sister put under the a guillotine's blade, one that was set to drop at any given second. Not only was it unpleasant to think about, but it was also agonizing, painful, terrifying... and familiar. The whole scenario reeked of spine-chilling familiarity: Anna could still recall the singing blade of a power-hungry Prince as it thirsted for blood.

"Now that we are here, why don't we all settle down and have a nice little conversation?" the Bergrisi continued, deliberately lowering his foot closer Elsa's injured body.

"Wait, don't hurt her!" Anna blurted.

"Oh, but I won't... at least, so long as you comply. We all must remain civil, after all." The foot lowered even further, until its wide shadow completely blotted the platinum-blonde's figure. "I know you simians tend to be quite dogged, so I was afraid keeping her alive wouldn't worth the effort."

"A-Anna... Don't..." Elsa groaned.

The Princess squeezed her eyes in frustration, and faced the Bergrisi. "What... what do you want?" she asked through grinding teeth.

"It's nothing much, really! Just give me a simple little answer to a simple little question, and then I'll let your sister go and be on my way." assured the Bergrisi. "It's what you want after all, isn't it? Your sister's safety and well-being?" He sneered, the corners of his lips reaching all the way around to his ears.

Anna didn't say anything.

The amethyst beast nodded in approval. "Now... where are the others?"

"Wh-wha-"

"The others! Where are the rest of your townspeople!" he shouted, abruptly waving his hands and foot wildly to emphasize his point. Flecks of age-old dirt and refuse trickled from the sole of his foot, covering Elsa's weakened body in a light layer of dust. "Little mouse, tell me where you have been hiding the people of this filthy human settlement, or else your one and only chance of ever defeating me is dashed to the ground! Tell me!"

Elsa simply raised a hand out to her baby sister, her voice strained as she mumbled: "Anna... r-run..."

"Hmph." The Bergrisi snorted with utter disdain for his hostage. Turning his head back to the Princess, he growled, "Little mouse, this isn't a matter of you maintaining your duty to your people, or beating me, or deciding what is right or wrong. This... this is a matter of whether or not you want to see your dear sister again. Do you truly wish to condemn your family just like that?"

"I-I..."

Come now, choose! It's either one or the other, unless if you wish the decision to fall upon these two gentlemen here..." the Bergrisi droned, flourishing a hand towards Kristoff and Mister He. "I don't know what morals they follow, so you better make your mind up fast while you still have the chance. Time is ticking..."

The air between everyone froze, with not a single sound uttered by anyone except for the Bergrisi's naturally heavy breaths. Anna's blue eyes flicked from the Bergrisi, to Elsa, and then to her friends; it was obvious that her sister was the only person who could conceivably defeat the giant given their limited time and resources. If Elsa dies, not only would she lose the last of her family, but the entire kingdom would be lost as a result no matter how this battle plays out.

"Tick... tock..."

So... Anna could tell him the truth and buy everyone some time... It was harsh, it was risky, but it'll give everyone a chance where there was none. Even better, she could try lying about their location, keep everyone safe for the time being. One may even call it pragmatic...

...But who said the Bergrisi was the kind of guy who'd keep his word?

At the corner of her vision, Anna spotted Elsa's icy blue eyes glittering underneath the Bergrisi's shadow, narrowed and full of determination. The Princess immediately understood with the most microscopic of nods, in the hopes the Bergrisi couldn't see it: Anna just needed to stall for a little bit more, at least until Elsa can finally recover and launch a counterattack.

The Bergrisi's amethyst eye flickered, and the monster sighed to himself in exasperation. "Tut tut, I'm surprised you simians don't have a value for time after all." He flashed Anna a cheery smile. "It's a real shame too, because I'm about to collect what's overdue."

No... no no no! The dawning terror on Anna's face mirrored the one held hostage by the amethyst monster as they drew to the same conclusion. The redhead screamed a great, resounding "No!"; all three active combatants broke into a mad dash for the monster, but they were too late; the Bergrisi roared as he slammed his foot down on the Queen of Arendelle, who could only squeeze her eyes in anticipation in front of her powerless friends, and wait as the world around her rapidly turned black.

And then… nothing.

Strangely enough for the Snow Queen, there was no crushing sensation that came with stamping her to the pavement no sound of bones crunching under pressure. Whatever she could have possibly anticipated to feel when her last living seconds finally ticked away, she certainly wasn't expecting this... this lack thereof, As a matter of fact, Elsa wouldn't find it too hard to believe that she was currently alone with just her thoughts, floating in an endless, sightless void; her body certainly felt as numb as it was a few seconds ago, if she even still had just a body before.

Am I... am I dead?

Have I... Is it all over? She thought to herself.

Still though, if she was alone, what's with all these screams, crashes, and voices echoing inside her head? Why is her surroundings still clamoring away, with hardly a change in tone whatsoever?

Uh... I think you missed a spot check there.

Elsa peeked her eyes open, and gasped: She found herself staring straight at the bottom of an oversized foot, one that hovered about an inch from her nose and scattered pebbles with every quiver as it tried to complete its course. Absolutely nothing else registered in her mind: she was alive and untouched... and not alone.

A distinct presence brushed against the Queen's side, prompting Elsa to glance in its direction: Next to her laid a waifish figure, whose extended arms and legs were all that stood between them and the Bergrisi's immense weight. Sweat rolled down the girl's matted hair, and she made soft little squeaks of restrained agony despite displaying no signs of wavering or breaking down.

Elsa could hardly believe her eyes. It was only until she gawked for a couple of dumbfounded seconds when she finally snapped into action, hastily assisting the newcomer in pushing the Bergrisi away and shouldering some of the burden. "In-Ingrid!" she yelled in disbelief. "What on Earth are you doing here!?"

The florist didn't reply, but a voice rang out from beyond their trapped space, as loud and clear as a bombastic baritone blare: "Fire!"

A crack of thunder, and the oppressive darkness shadowing the ladies gave way to the open skies and flushed the two in fresh air; Like a giant's punch, the round of gunfire was able to knock the Bergrisi a good few yards away.

Ingrid flopped lifelessly on the ground, like a marionette with all her strings cut. Her eyes fluttered, her face was flushed, she was drenched in sweat, and her chest rose up and down like her lungs couldn't take in air fast enough. Without a second of hesitation, Elsa slung the girl's arm over her shoulder and limped over to Anna, who was now waving her shovel as she rushed over to their side. Together, the three girls tucked themselves within the dilapidated remains that was once a home, where Ingrid was rested against a broken wall with the utmost care.

"E-Elsa, I'm so glad you... you made it out okay!" breathed Anna, almost too overwhelmed by relief to speak properly. "That sailor guy, Mister Himmel, some of his friends came to help!" Her blue eyes examined the girl before them, and then she turned back to her older sister. "Do you... do you know her?"

Elsa hesitated. "I-"

"...Elizabeth?"

The platinum-blonde froze. She apprehensive shifted her gaze to Ingrid, whose eyelids fluttered in a vain attempt to stay conscious.

"Oh... oh." Anna said, nodding to herself with eyes wide in realization. "Um..." She nervously glanced at Elsa's cyan vest and blue cape, biting her lips while Ingrid's head drooped back into a tired doze.

The Snow Queen stared quietly at the florist for a few more seconds, and then flicked her wrist once; a sheet of ice rose out of the ground and wrapped the delirious florist within, a protective blanket to shield her from the turmoil outside. So long as the Bergrisi was not actively seeking Ingrid out, she should be safe for the duration of this mess. Satisfied with the results, Elsa turned around with a flip of her cape, and headed straight back for the fighting grounds. "Let's go, Anna. We can't let him have his way and hurt anyone ever again."

"But... what about her?" Anna asked, scrunching her nose into frown. "She seemed pretty worried about you, and you have to admit that what she did was impressive."

"I..." Elsa sighed. "At least Captain Himmel and Mister He are obligated to fight by my side, no matter what current opinion they hold for me. With Ingrid..." Elsa looked down, picking at a torn piece of fabric from her borrowed civilian dress. "She's putting herself in danger for the wrong reasons."

"Reasons." Anna flatly stated.

"She still believe that I am her friend."

Anna blinked twice in rapid succession, and then pouted as she approached her sister, all but ready to give her a piece of her mind. "Elsa, is that really what you think about everyone else-"

"Hey!" shouted Peter Himmel, interrupting the two. "A little help, anyone!?"

The Bergrisi laughed from over head, causing tremors in the ground with the sheer reverberation of his voice. He slammed a palm down on the ground, narrowly missing the privateer by the foot. The nimble Captain and his First Mate began circling the Bergrisi wielding bayonets, jabbing away at the monster's advances while a small team of people reloaded their pistols and rifles. Their eclectic yet familiar looks and apparent experience with firearms was more than enough to tell Elsa that they were members of Himmel's crew. Naturally, this did little to subside the grin from the Bergrisi's face, whose exposed eye quickly betrayed his bloodlust. "You simians are just too amusing, thinking that combined efforts can amount to squat! Despair! Despair as I pummel you all to the floor!"

"Just shut it, ya hunk of second-rate jewelry!" snapped the captain, of whom Mister He yanked by the scruff of his neck to avoid yet another strike. "With all this big talk, I swear you're just nothing more than a glorified set of cheap bagpipes! On legs!"

"Oh?" The Bergrisi hunkered down into a low stance, his elbows shuddering as they pulled back until Elsa could have swore she heard an audible click. The privateers, seeing the giant in such an immobilized and vulnerable position, immediately seized the moment to swarm in and begin a unrelenting assault on the Bergrisi's hide, hacking away with their knives and landing point-blank pistol shots where his scars were the deepest. Steam hissed enthusiastically from the new series of lacerations, encouraging the sailors to continue attacking.

The Bergrisi's exposed eye flashed; before anyone could react, the monster lunged with both his fists snapping forward, faster than the eye could see - A harsh clap shook the air, and suddenly all the crew members were blown backwards with the force of a locomotive, their bodies not even flying in arcs so much as they were straight beelines.

"No!" shouted Elsa. Without a second to spare, the Snow Queen twirled both her hands in a dancing motion, calling forth a torrential, snow-tinged gale that pushed against the combatants' backs and slowed their trajectories; they fell to the ground without complication, saved from further injury. Then, the Snow Queen turned to face the Bergrisi with fresh determination in her icy blue eyes, standing tall and defiant as she shouted: "Over here! I'm the one you really want!"

The giant cast an aside-glance at her, his muscle joints still twitching and crackling from his attack, his partially-opened mouth forming into what could only be charitably described as a grin. "Not at all, Elsa, unless you've finally decided to tell me where you're keeping the rest of your kingdom!"

The platinum-blonde scowled, and clicked her borrowed heel on the pavement surface; a massive rectangular pillar rocketed upwards from beneath the Bergrisi and uppercut his chin, snapping his tombstone chompers together. He reeled away from her and rested a hand against another building, causing it to collapse under his weight and choke the air in more dust.

Out of nowhere, Kristoff's voice echoed loud and clear: "She's not the only one you should worry about!" Several grappling hooks, the kind often used by mountain hikers in the Arendelle outdoors, whistled high-pitched notes as they flew out of the resultant clouds one by one. Most of them only bounced off the Bergrisi's thick skin, but two managed to successfully latch onto his ears, much to the giant's displeasure. The smoke and dust cleared to reveal the ice harvester and the Princess, who dug in their heels into the rubble and pulled on the ropes attached at the hooks' ends, stringing the monster to the sound of his pained howls.

"Aaaagh! Uwaaaah! You filthy, hideous, pungent vermin! You should learn your places!" The Bergrisi twisted his head sharply to the side, jerking the couple several yards towards him like a wrangler pulling in his catch. Even as the two scurried to back, the monster laughed; just one more yank of the rope would be enough to send them flying.

The Bergrisi wasn't able to follow through with his thoughts, however, because a massive white creature clamped his sharp claws around both the giant's wrists. Having been given time to reattach his body whole, Marshmallow roared directly into the Bergrisi's face and covered him in snow-spittle, permitting Anna and Kristoff to duck back into the fallen debris unnoticed.

The amethyst beast snarled back and rammed his head into Marshmallow's, leaving behind a massive indent into the snowman's forehead. A small, golden piece was knocked askew from its seat as a result, causing it to dangle precariously between the golem's eye sockets; Marshmallow gasped, loosening his grip in panic to fix the tiara back on his head, upon which the Bergrisi seized the ice pillar Elsa had used to uppercut him, snapped it off at the base, and then impaled Marshmallow with it, nailing the golem to the wreckage of what was once a two-story building. The amethyst giant laughed scornfully at the struggling snowman, and tore his right arm off in animalistic glee.

"He can't last any longer at this rate!" exclaimed a panicking Kristoff. "We have to do something!"

"His legs!" Anna alerted.

Elsa nodded. Pointing a finger at the floor directly below the Bergrisi, she fired two bolts in rapid succession that sparked upon contact, blossoming ice structures that clamped around and over his massive feet until the finished product resembled a bizarre pair of shoes. Then, the Snow Queen stomped once on the ground, flash-freezing the entire section of road around the unaware giant into pale, near-frictionless ice.

"Great idea, Elsa!" Kristoff shouted in the distance. He and Anna began to pump their feet as hard as they can, quickly approaching the ice. "Anna, toss it to me!"

The redhead passed her shovel to her boyfriend, who caught it before falling to his knees on the magically-created skating rink: With nothing to alter or impede his speed, Kristoff adapted by focusing on a proper posture, raising the tool in preparation as be bulleted towards the two feuding giants. The very moment the ice harvester was within proximity of the Bergrisi, he gave a great, horizontal swing and achieved what many did not - the blond man cut deep into the grey beast's calf, slicing a wide gash that actually bubbled and frothed, revealing glimpses of the amethyst-purple sinew underneath his skin before boiling into the tell-tale gushes of gas.

"GYAHH!" The Bergrisi screamed at the top of his cavernous lungs, reflexively shattering nearby windows and shop displays. Shoving himself away from Marshmallow, he tried turning around in search of those responsible, only for the ice clamps on his feet to completely throw him off. The beast flailed his hands to reassert his balance, inadvertently knocked the tiara off Marshmallow's head and sending it flying into the rubble.

Marshmallow's eye sockets followed the golden tiara as it tinkled with every bounce, glittering brightly against the grey fog and the ruins like a little star. When it finally vanished...

"...Blasted things, weak enough to resort to such simple tricks..." complained the Bergrisi, chipping bits of ice away with his filth-encrusted nails. "They must be truly desperate if they think this will be enough-"

"...Give it back."

"What are you jabbering about, construct-"

"GIVE! IT! BACK!" Something changed within the behemoth snow golem: Almost literally burning with a fresh fire in his eyes, Marshmallow kicked the Bergrisi harder than he had ever done before, actually destroying the ice bonds suppressing the beast and still lifting him a couple feet off the ground afterwards. Then, while the giant crashed into a shop on the opposite side, Marshmallow shuddered: new teeth poked themselves out from his jaw, and his brow twisted before inflating, restoring the golem's indented head back to its original shape and form.

Fully healed, Marshmallow yanked out the icicle stake out of his chest and hurled it at the Bergrisi, leaving behind a gaping hole that also filled itself in with remarkable speed. The amethyst beast managed to catch the ice pillar, but he couldn't have prepared for the snow golem to duck down, clutch the end of his displaced arm, and whip the Bergrisi with it as if he was swinging a primitive flail.

"Get him, big guy!" Anna cheered.

"You can do it, Marshmallow!" shouted Kristoff.

"Shut up!" The Bergrisi bounced away a swing of Marshmallow's improvised weapon with the back of his wrist. He thwacked the pillar right into the golem's eyes to stun him, and then advanced into what was essentially a one-sided duel, digging chunks of ice and snow out of Marshmallow's chest and chin with violent swings.

For a moment, Marshmallow look like he couldn't make it any further... but then he grunted, flicking his dismembered arm around the Bergrisi's weapon. The hand whipped around the column and constricted with a single tug, crushing it into tiny fragments that fell over the street like hail. Left empty-handed, the Bergrisi was completely exposed to Marshmallow's vicious beatdown: The golem smacked the amethyst giant's face with his loose arm left and right, left and right, again and again until the final blow sent the Bergrisi collapsing to the floor, shaking the Earth under his colossal weight.

"You miserable whelps, always trying to get the upper hand on me!" barked the giant, slamming a fist onto the pavement. The amethyst spines on his back, especially the two massive crystal prisms jutting out of his shoulder blades, started to glow; they didn't whiten as before, but radiated a deep, deep purple that flushed his grayed surroundings. "This is no longer fun-"

BOOM!

The Bergrisi slammed down on his back, leaving behind his hanging words and an almost curious look plastered on his face.

For that matter, so did everyone else left standing on the streets. All of their eyes chose to stare at the same thing; sitting primly at the very center of the Bergrisi's battle-scarred chest, right were his sternum should be, was a cast-iron cannonball. It planted itself several inches deep in his flesh, which was honestly more of testament to the giant's toughness than anything else, scorching away surrounding patches of skin to reveal shining muscular structure beneath. The giant twitched once, twice... and then all was silent.

Applause erupted at the other end of the street, prompting Elsa and the rest of her companions to look in its direction; Captain Arvid stood in his usual dignified posture next to a smoking cannon, while soldiers all around cheered and threw their hats into the air, jubilant in light of the monster's defeat. Marshmallow, his spines and teeth retracting back into his body, observed the jubilation with a hint of apprehension; he probably recognized a few of the soldiers from the Seige on the Ice Palace three weeks ago.

"Looks like Sigurd made it just in time." reckoned Kristoff, smiling out of relief.

Elsa continued to stare at the downed beast. "Right..."

Anna congratulatory patted Marshmallow on the leg before standing beside the Queen, mirroring her boyfriend with a relieved smile of her own. Upon seeing the resignation and sadness written all over her older sister, though, it faded away. "...Sis?" she asked, bending down to have a better view of Elsa. "Is something the matter?"

Elsa didn't say anything immediately, but instead looked all around at the carnage that was once Arendelle. She couldn't really feel like joining in on the jubilation, especially when she'd walked along this street not too long ago, in the same outfit to boot.

"Everything's gone..." she mumbled. Just hours ago, this street had been filled with happy people, citizens who never knew destruction or fear on this large of a scale. They didn't think about rampages, or frost once again reaching town-scale levels this deep into summer. Now...

Her melancholy was even beginning to spread; Kristoff's grin disappeared as he followed Elsa's gaze, and he looked unsure of what to say. He too understood the issue: the ice harvester had passed this road many times to sell his wares.

Anna, however pursed her lips and placed both her hands on the two's shoulders. "We'll make it through, guys. Everyone's still safe, and we can always fix things up." Anna paused, and then her face brightened. "You know what?" how about when we clean all of this mess, we can get some carpenters to let us build ice houses and ice buildings! Everyone will love it, I'm sure!"

Elsa still couldn't think of much else besides the destruction, but the faintest hint of a smile returned to her features. "...Of course, Anna. I never would have thought it myself."

"Whoo!" hailed a man's voice, shattering the moment. "Were you saying something, you stale sack of beefcake? You should have spoken up a bit more!" Peter Himmel emerged from the rubble, limping a little with Mister He's support. The two sported battered looks and nosebleeds through both nostrils, damages suffered from the Bergrisi's shockwave attack. Still, such matters did little to wipe the grins off their faces as they approached Elsa. "Say, do you mind if you can get some of your soldiers over here? I've got a few more of my folks that needs attending to- ow!"

The elephant of a man flicked a finger at the privateer captain's head, disapproval all but evident in his bald face. "You'll have to forgive and forget my captain's rudeness, Your Majesty. This had always been a small amount of a..." the First Mate hesitated, "... a small amount of a recurring problem."

"I-it's okay! It's fine!" Elsa quickly responded, a little intimidated by the sailors' presence now that the chaos was over. "So... you're not... angry at me, are you?"

Both sailors cocked their heads at her. "Angry?" Himmel mouthed.

"I-it's nothing. Nevermind." Elsa wasn't particularly interested in carrying the conversation further; somewhere in the back of her mind, Elsa couldn't resist noticing that the First Mate hadn't been wearing a shirt the entire time, much to the... disconcertion of pretty much everyone else. Turning her head to the mountain man behind her, she said, "Kristoff, please have Mister Himmel's crew seen to." She paused, remembering the blanket of ice tucked away from the combat. "There was a girl who got involved as well. Make sure that she's okay."

The ice harvester nodded and walked away. Meanwhile, the younger corsair admonished to his older subordinate: "See? I told you it's fine, X!" The captain's mouth split into a wide grin that seemed almost smug. "She's still our Ellie! Nothing's changed at all!"

Elsa blinked.

Captain Himmel turned back to the platinum-blonde, ruffling through his pockets. "By the way, I uh... I found this."

Elsa stopped breathing- there the tiara was in his hand, with its golden framework and inlaid jewelry, returning to her once more with nary a scratch.

"Crazy thing nearly took my eye out." Peter Himmel joked.

"Oh dear, I'm so terribly sorry..." Elsa reached towards the headpiece, but her fingers seemed almost reluctant to draw any closer. "May I?"

The man tilted his head. "Doesn't it belong to you? I know everyone would think it'd look fantastic on me... but I'd rather return it to its rightful owner."

"About that..." Elsa said doubtfully. Nevertheless she complied, smiling a little as she extended a hand once more towards the tiara. Marshmallow will be so happy once he sees it again-

The entire town rumbled; buildings crumpled to the ground, people were knocked off their feet, and a growling sound that pained Elsa's ears rapidly escalated into a full-on roar. The tiara quickly fell back into Himmel's possession, but that was the least of anyone's concerns; Elsa feared the worse, whipping her head to the Bergrisi's prone body.

Incredibly, the giant's fingers were actually twitching, flexing open and close and digging small ditches into the pavement until they balled up into fists. He punched the ground once, shaking the earth in a fresh wave of tremors as he rose to his knees, heaving ragged breaths that misted the air and smelled of old dirt. The cannonball thudded as it fell from his chest, and the monster stared at everyone with absolute hatred in his eyes.

"I've... I've had it with these filthy, punitive, disgusting, arrogant little simians!" His elephantine skin started to crackle at a hideous volume, resembling even more like granite than ever; sections of his body swelled and snapped, twisting here and there at gruesome angles before straightening, folding over, intersecting and splitting apart. Cracks in his hide snaked along his injuries, releasing even more pale gas into the air around him, and veins along his limbs pulsed with sickening frequency. All the while, the Bergrisi screamed and howled incessantly, banging himself against the fallen remains of homes he destroyed, bubbling spittle out of his wide mouth. If anything, the giant seemed to be undergoing as much pain as such a transformation could imply.

"Get the other cannons over here, men!" reverberated Captain Arvid from his side of the street, swiping a sabre towards the convulsing beast. "The battle is not over yet!"

"Anna, everyone! Get back!" yelled Elsa. She pocketed the tiara and gathered power in her hands, firing a massive winter blast that was almost blinding to look at. It streaked down the battle-torn street, so powerfully cold it simultaneously condensed and froze all the water in the air, leaving a trail of shimmering diamond dust and rime in its wake. The attack collided headfirst into the monster...

...And bounced away from him with all the effectiveness of a rubber ball. The projectile instead splashed against a patch of road, exploding into a spectacular star-shaped bloom made of tree-sized icicles that, while impressive, was completely ineffective.

"Ugh!" Anna bemoaned in frustration. "How is this guy always finding ways to make everything we throw at him useless!?"

"Heh... Heheh! Heeheehahaha! GURAHAHAHAHA!"

A creature that once was a heavyset, grizzled giant stood before the fighters of Arendelle; he inexplicably grew even larger, doubling Marshmallow in height. His skin had transmuted, bearing a resemblance to the primitive armor that protected animals, or maybe to warriors who had fought long before the Middle Ages. The injuries sustained in fighting now manifested as fissures in the plating, especially surrounding the exposed eye that was now positively burning with the heat of a violet star. It stared down at the Snow Queen, crinkling when the Bergrisi gave her a malicious smile.

Elsa's stomach churned; even the monstrosity's face had turned into an uncanny mask, cracking heavily at the edges of his lips, eyes, and maw to allow movement. She couldn't even bear herself to look at the Bergrisi's crystal eye, out of fear it will burn into her memories forever.

"It's a little disappointing that I have resort to this..." the Bergrisi complained. "...But, I have time. I'll gladly carry this out if it's the last thing I'll do on this world!" The Bergrisi's splintered face grimaced once more, and he groveled with his head hung low, drawing attention to the two crystal prisms sitting in his back; they still shined in that particular shade of violet, assuming a hue so intense and bizarre it couldn't have been seen anywhere else the natural world. They vibrated uncontrollably with his shoulder blades... and then the Bergrisi let loose a blood-curdling scream, expelling the two outwards until they high above.

For a moment, Elsa and her friends merely stared in befuddlement; the pillars looked almost like tree stalks swaying in the wind, if trees were made of amethyst crystal. Soon though, confusion gave way to chilling revelation: The crystals twisted into jointed segments, the very ends expanding to resemble the Bergrisi's peculiar limbs and breaking apart into smaller links...

"Captain Himmel, ladies. I believe our enemy giant has produced two new arms." stated Mister He.

The monstrosity's freakish eyeball blinked once. Within it burned violet light, which contracted like an actual pupil once it centered in on the group.

Anna nodded in agreement. "That... is completely unfair."

"Fire, fire!" echoed the Captain of the Guard's voice.

BOOM! BOOM!

The din of heavy artillery rattled at Elsa's eardrums, but she couldn't care less. What the Bergrisi had to face against were used in offensives that sunk mighty ships, broke down entire fortress walls. Surely, not even his newly-formed armor could shelter the giant from gunpowder and solid iron... right?

The delay between the sound of the cannon fire and the actual impact, a distance that was literally one end of the street to the other, was less than negligible... so why didn't the Bergrisi fall the instant the weapons thundered like before? Why wasn't he knocked away, or even looked the slightest bit perturbed? Was he even hit?

Why was he just standing there, smiling?

"Elsa... look." muttered Anna, pointing a finger at the Bergrisi. Her older sister complied by peering through the haze, and couldn't help but regret just the smallest twinge of regret for learning what happened: Two circular discolorations, not even dark enough to register as "blackened", smoked faintly where the creature's pectorals should have been. Yes, he had actually been hit... but the cannonballs might as have tickled him, for all the reaction they drew out of him.

"Gurahahahaha! This power! This energy! I could hardly control myself at this rate!" guffawed the Bergrisi, curling all twenty of his fingers. "You aren't the only who can bend the natural elements, Elsa!"

Before anyone could stop him, the monster slammed down with dual-handed hammer fists, one set atop the other so they struck the pavement simultaneously. Elsa instinctively closed here eyes and brace herself; she knew all too well about the Bergrisi's propensity for earthquakes.

But... strange. Absolutely nothing answered back. There wasn't even the expected rumble of impact.

"What are you doing there, guys!?" yelled Kristoff from afar. "Get away!"

Elsa blinked, and she took another look; where the Bergrisi struck developed a bulge, so small and subtle the Queen of Arendelle had mistook it as a fault of irregular terrain. As she continued watching though, the bulge started to rise slowly, inch by inch, creeping away from him little by little. Like a ripple, the disturbance fanned out from him while displacing paving stones and dirt, increasing in magnitude until its height wasn't so little, its speed no longer so slow.

A horrible understanding plopped itself at the bottom of Elsa's stomach, choking her as the oddity now loomed over her and her stunned friends with its shadow: The Bergrisi never meant to strike with an earthquake...

He was attacking with a wave. A giant, crashing wave made of heavy stone.

The havoc raging around her shredded at Elsa's eardrums directly into her brain, which all but pleaded just to finally end this hopeless farce and curl into a ball. The wave formed by the Bergrisi's will was just coming too fast, ripping lampposts out of the grounds, shattering glass, crunching wood, and, unbelievably, powderizing the very base foundations of neighboring residencies; structures made to withstand time and weather split apart at the seams and fell apart, folding in on themselves as if they were merely stacks of cards waiting for the slightest touch to crumple down to nothing. If they didn't even stand a chance, what use would Elsa's magic fare against the Bergrisi?

No... The Snow Queen gnashed her teeth together. No! She didn't even waste a second warning the others, there just wasn't any time. The platinum-blonde inhaled sharply; her nervous heartbeats and just plain nerves hammered terribly against the inner walls of her skull. A pressure was building inside her chest like never before, making it increasingly hard for her to breathe. If Elsa had still practiced in shutting others away from her life, her immediate reaction would have been to run and hide where no one could be hurt by the outburst.

Well, I'm not that Elsa anymore... she thought to herself, acting quickly. I've learned too much.

The Queen of Arendelle, surrounded by those she grew to care for and even love, fully absorbed herself into the storm inside instead, letting it occupy all her thoughts as power channeled down her arms: Her fear for her own safety, fear for the fates of her people, her desire to protect, her love, her hopes, anger, frustrations, everything that made her who she was today - hundreds of bluish motes gathered at her fingertips, congealing into a mass so coldly brilliant, snowflakes fell generously from the surrounding air.

Elsa arms shivered a little; she could barely contain the displaced power now radiating in her hands. The platinum-blonde aimed at the crashing mess eager to swallow everything, squeezed her eyes shut, and released her control with an mental effort of will.

Whatever happened next, Elsa wasn't too sure: Her vision turned a fiery pink behind her eyelids, and a rush of air - well, more like a semi-solid wall, really - slammed against her with the speed and brutality of one of the Bergrisi's charges, whipping her hair braid and cerulean cape back and flying parallel to the ground. Heavy cracks, the kind heard when the fjord freezes over and break into floes, joined in on the noise, while people besides her hollered to prevent from drowning out. Anna's voice in particular was a mixture of confusion and surprise. The nearby privateers, of course, sounded mostly terrified.

Finally, the storming winds settled down enough for Elsa to peek her eyes back open. She was immediately stricken with how startlingly clear the street has become, her powers having blown back all the haze, all the destruction, all the heavy clouds of ashes kicked upwards in the heat of battle, leaving behind the sterile whiteness of snow that fell gently to the ground. The entire town glittered in rimed specks of light, with snowflake patterns coating every solid surface. Even the terrible ruins stretching out to the distance, the remains of what was once part of Arendelle, attained a sort of haunting tranquility to them, like somber gravestones on a snowy day.

In the midst of it all stood the giant stone crest, bands of ice filling every spacing in the twisted earth, restricted into a complete standstill.

"Whoa..." Anna whispered. Her breaths came out as airy mist. "Well sis, I guess that's one way to stop a rock wave."

"Freezing the ground so I can't perform an attack?" rumbled his voice; The Bergrisi's flawed, mask-like head rose from the very top of the frosted wave. "An impressive display, I must admit. However..." Four sets of fingers stabbed through the rocky rise, tearing it apart in four parts as easily as if it was made of wet paper. "You must be delusional into thinking that it could stop me!"

"Guys, run!" shrieked Anna's voice from behind Elsa. No sooner did she finish though, when the Bergrisi lunged; everyone else was blown off their feet from the impact, flying uncontrollably in the air before hitting the ground - Elsa's hands stung as she scraped them against the rough road, pulling away skin and drawing little beads of dark blood, while Peter Himmel and Mister He from afar yelled harshly in expletives, on account of their sustained injuries.

Shaking herself away from a slight daze, Elsa became aware of the swinging braids and familiar hands pulling at her, attempting to drag her body out of the fight. Unfortunately, so did the Bergrisi, who reached towards the two with the most unsettlingly bloodthirsty grin etched into his face. "A-Anna! Look out!" she choked.

"Fire! Fire!"

Gunfire split the air once again, sending dozens of high-speed bullets flying towards the monster's way. The Bergrisi merely laughed in scorn as the lead balls whizzed by him or bounced off his armor; the soldiers may as well have been firing little pellets at a brick wall for all the good it did.

"What are they thinking!?" Elsa cried. "Don't they understand that shooting him is useless?"

"Keep firing!" commanded Captain Arvid. "Her Majesty's survival is our top priority!"

"Anna! Elsa!" shouted Kristoff. The mountain man leaped over fallen rubble in an attempt t reach the two.

"Humans..." the Bergrisi grumbled. "You really are such miserable little whelps." The giant rested a palm on the road, pushing downwards while his crystal arms and eye continued to glow in that same, unnaturally deep violet, until the coating of frost surrounding him snapped and the floor genuinely melted against his touch. When he raised back up, leaving behind a crater in the ground, he held... something in his hand, which Elsa would have taken for a dripping clump of thick mud... had it not been for the textures of the paving stones stretching out and distorting like smeared pastel paint.

"Look out!" shouted Arvid to the others, but it was far too late; the Bergrisi's crystal eye flashed as he flung the melted substance, causing it to split apart into smaller chunks that spread over a wide area: The larger droplets slammed into the soldiers, throwing them backwards onto the ground before merging with the pavement. The victims were left partially buried under a literal blanket of solid rock. Other, smaller droplets hardened mid-flight, riddling through uniforms with the frightening efficiency of real bullets; fully-trained military men screamed in agony as they dropped in unbearable pain.

Kristoff ducked as he ran, narrowly avoiding a sizable stone blob aimed directly for his head. He flung his arms Anna and Elsa with his back towards the Bergrisi, hoisting them upwards before running down the street.

"You're not getting away from me this time, you two!" roared the Bergrisi. Once again he dipped his hands into the ground and dragged liquefied chunks out, fully prepared to throw yet another salvo of magically-altered earth.

Before the monstrosity could aim though, Marshmallow vaulted over a destroyed building with surprising agility and tackled him, forcing the Bergrisi to release his ammunition and let them splash harmlessly to the ground.

The amethyst giant smiled brightly down at the golem. "I was wondering where you were hiding, construct!" he laughed. His extraneous set of crystalline arms shot down and snapped themselves around Marshmallow's throat before lifting him off his feet. As the snowman struggled to no avail, the Bergrisi proceeded to hit him like a punching bag left and right, left and right, again and again in a cruel callback to a certain event just minutes ago. Finally, when Marshmallow's body was so deprived of snow it couldn't even hold itself together, the giant slammed him down to the ground.

"Marshmallow, no!" Elsa screamed. She extended a hand around Kristoff's body towards Marshmallow in a futile gesture, forced to watch as the Bergrisi howled towards the sky, a terrifying and vindictive war cry that seemed to travel endlessly over his fallen prey and through the streets of Arendelle; in the direction Kristoff fled towards, a faint but haunting sound of people wailing for their lives all at once answered back.

"Ah..." The Bergrisi cupped a hand to his ear, his voice filled to the brim with satisfaction. "There they are."

"He's found out where we've been keeping them!" Anna shouted over Kristoff's shoulder. "Guys, what should we do-"

A giant hand sped along the crumbled road, sweeping Kristoff right off his feet and dropping Elsa and Anna to the ground. Completely stunned, the mountain man could only lie back while the Bergrisi stared down at him, bathing the man in unnaturally violet light.

"One..." The Bergrisi kicked Kristoff to the side, sending his body tumbling towards a wall with a painful smack.

"Kristoff!" Anna and Elsa shouted simultaneously.

"Two..." The Bergrisi stomped once, causing the frosted ground beneath Anna to suddenly whip and kick her high into the air. The Princess only had an instance to flail her limbs helplessly before the Bergrisi slapped her away like a fly, shooting her body into the distance..

"Anna!" Elsa sobbed.

A great shadow blotted out Elsa's world, and she slowly turned her head with tears welling up in her eyes. "E-everyone..." she whimpered.

Right before the Bergrisi's grey fist blurred, his chipped lips peeled back, revealing every single moss-covered, tombstone teeth. "...Three."

Something wrapped itself around Elsa - the pain immediately blossoming across the platinum-blonde's chest was as swift as it was brutal, but the newcomer managed to absorb the worst of the blow as both were flown backwards by the Bergrisi's strike. Four whole heartbeats thumped in her ears before they finally collided with the ground, leading into a violent tumble that added even more fresh agonies across Elsa's body all the way until the two finally slowed to a stop.

"Ugh..." Elsa moaned. She felt sore all over, and the weight now lying on her was starting to crush her ribs. Carefully, she pushed the body away so it flopped next to her... revealing Captain Arvid's disheveled face. In his impression of a discarded doll, he looked far older than the Queen had ever seen him, with wisp-like grey hairs knocked askew, and tired wrinkles in his typically stiff features. What really struck Elsa though, was his skin; almost half his whole face was an ugly mottled black, and who knows how many more under that full-body uniform of his... The platinum-blonde scrambled to rest her ears against the Captain of the Guard's chest, quietly, desperately hoping to feel for any sign of life, anything to prove that she wasn't alone.

A faint heartbeat. A ragged breath here and there. Nothing else mattered.

"Gurahahahaha!" The world rattled as heavy footsteps left tremors in the ground. Elsa squeezed the Captain's still-warm hand for assurance, and turned around to an absolutely gleeful Bergrisi, whose face only grew even more delighted at the very sight of her. "Ha! So, someone decided to sacrifice his little life for you! What, so he wanted to be a 'hero'!?" The creature burst into another round of hysterics, covering his face looking away from Elsa as if he's ashamed she would judge him. "What an utterly wasteful and pointless exercise!"

"Stop-... Just... just stop it..." Elsa weakly protested.

"Hm!? Why should I, when you could have stopped this yourself!? YOU were the one who decided to fight back!" The giant, still full of mirth, flourished a glittering amethyst hand outwards to display the entire town. "Just look around, you pitiful, miserable simian!"

An icy, barbed dagger plunged itself deep into Elsa's chest, its chilling venom coursing through her veins as she fell down to her knees, what little color left in her cheeks completely drained away. All around her was nothing but desolation: Homes and shops that once beckoned to her warmly now looked so decrepit and forlorn. Some even disappeared completely, their remains covered bleakly in snow, and most, if not all, were beyond conceivable means of repair. Men and women alike littered the ground, some still trapped beneath the distorted earth and now too weak to call for help, at most making feeble mewls or waving their arms around. Others laid on the ground, unresponsive, and the rest just plain disappeared. At some point in the battle several fires ignited, creating dark plumes that darkened the already-grey skies. Worst of all, however, were the faint but very real screams of Arendelle's population, carried over by the wind from the Palace where they had taken refuge.

...Because of me.

"That's right, take a good, long look at everything you've been working towards... I want this to be the last thing you ever see..." the Bergrisi purred. He popped his knuckles hungrily, balling one of his hands into a fist. "...You deserve it."

Elsa didn't say anything, do anything, or even respond; all she did was stare down at the ground, hardly paying attention to the hand of judgment ready to slam down on her. Why would she care, when there was literally nothing to fight for anymore? She felt at peace even, knowing she doesn't have to spend so much effort caring anymore; her attention started to drift elsewhere, to the crackles of an active fire, the sparkling snowflakes dancing in the air, the gentle mist returning to the streets, footsteps hitting the floor...

...And then the giant grey mass of armor plating and muscle smashed into the ground right next to Elsa, just barely missing her by an inch. This time, Elsa didn't take any chances in doubting her survival; she blinked herself back into awareness and gasped: Standing before the kneeling platinum-blonde and wounded Captain, puffing her chest out at the giant despite quivering down to her boots, was Ingrid.

"Ho?" The Bergrisi scratched his head with an amethyst finger, regarding the girl in amused curiosity. "And what exactly are you supposed to be, miscreant? Another 'hero', perhaps?"

The florist held her hands out in front of her and swallowed. "I-I'm her friend!"

"Friend? Friend!? Gurahahahaha! " the Bergrisi cackled, shifting his gaze from the florist to the Queen. "Elsa, I must say that I am very disappointed in you! Even at the brink of defeat you have the nerve to drag innocent people into this fight, have them throw themselves up for the offering!" He returned to sneering hungrily at Ingrid, his exposed eyeball practically in blazes with savagery. "I guess I will just have to make an example of you!"

Before Elsa could warn the brunette, the Bergrisi snarled and threw a giant fist at her... leading to an absolutely amazing sight that had to be witnessed to be believed: Ingrid actually sprung forward to meet the creature's punch, taking advantage of her deceptive durability to clasp herself to his knuckles. However, rather than stopping right at there tomeet the full brunt of the attack head-on, the florist dug her heels into the pavement and twisted, yanking the Bergrisi's hand along before releasing it, letting it fly harmless away from his target.

This whole course of events, everything the punitive lady did, clocked at less than a single second.

The Bergrisi, who had lived through centuries of always coming out on top in a vicious world of predators, who had left every challenger broken in every sense of the word, who had enough power in his hands to level fortress walls, was naturally less than amused.

Ingrid hopped back to her defensive position, breathing heavily from the exertion required for her stunt. However, she was much too late - the Bergrisi had learned accordingly, this time attacking with all four of his hands to smash her into bits... but then a lustrous wisp of blue magic curled itself around the giant's thick neck, instantly solidifying into a cumbersome-looking collar. While this hardly slowed the Bergrisi down, it was just enough; the Snow Queen wrenched Ingrid backwards before two sets of scaled and crystalline bludgeons snapped her up.

"Eliz- El... You're okay!" Ingrid managed to squeak, calming her anxious heart with pats to the chest.

"You were supposed to find shelter!" Elsa seethed, keeping her eyes trained on the furious, struggling Bergrisi; movement of his neck and arms were restricted by the collar, which had expanded into a snowflake-shaped, exaggerated sculpture of an old-timey ruff. "This was never meant to be your fight!"

"I-I know that!" replied the florist. "But if I did... I would have to lose you!"

Even full of fear and disapproval for the florist, it was impossible for Elsa to not feel a surge of emotion upon hearing those words. It warmed her from the inside, bolstering her spirit until it was almost overwhelming.

Might as well put it good use... Elsa told herself. The Snow Queen furrowed her dark brows in concentration, and then clenched her fist with a force of will; the expanded collar shined a blinding white, and suddenly four icicles rocketed out in opposing directions, plunging themselves deep into nearby concrete walls.

"GWAAH! What do you think you are doing, stringing me along like I'm cattle!?" the giant bellowed, locked into place by his reinforced manacles. He dug his fingers into the edge of his bonds and pulled, an act that rewarded him with the sound of ice snapping apart.

You're running out of time, Elsa! Get going! Now!

Elsa shrugged off her instincts screaming at her, descending onto her knees to examine just how could she carry Captain Arvid to safety. Before she could consider her options though, a pair of lithe arms lifted his heavy body with all the ease and care one might have given to an injured bird, prompting her to look up and into Ingrid's eager face. "Come on, let's go!" she chirped.

Elsa couldn't believe it. This girl had already saved her life twice, endangering herself over and over just for her sake, just because she still Elsa was worth the trouble. Even as the Bergrisi writhed in his shackles, she just continued to regard her with that frail, shaky, but strangely persistent smile. "But... but I lied to you." she blurted. I... I did terrible things because of my selfishness! It was my winter that ruined you! Shouldn't you deserve to be angry?"

Ingrid stared at her incredulously. "I know who you really are now, but... you were the first person in so long who decided to stay and listen to a blubbering mess like myself." She raised Captain Arvid's exhausted head a little higher, giving Elsa yet another view of his horribly bruised, broken face. "If you really were a terrible and selfish person from the start, he wouldn't have put so much trust in you! He wouldn't have taken the attack for you! That's w-why I'm... that's why I'm putting my trust in you anyway!"

The platinum-blonde was at a loss for words.

"Where do you think you two are going!?" boomed the monster from afar. He tore apart his shackles and started to run, using his lower knuckles to gain speed while reaching with his upper arms to resemble some demented, twisted bull rampaging down the streets. The Queen and the Florist quickly started to run, pumping their legs as fast as they can, but they couldn't simply compare to such a powerful beast. His steps grew heavier, his breaths grew louder...

"Go!" Suddenly, a single dark line whipped itself up into the air from several yards behind the two girls and man, linked from one side of the street to the other. The Bergrisi easily swept it up without a care in the world... unintentionally bringing alongside two massive barrels hooked to its ends that were ripped from their hidden positions, tearing rubble as they flew precariously threw the air. They smacked into the Bergrisi, smashing into bits of wood and the fish stored inside, leaving the giant absolutely drenched in old seawater.

"It stinks!" yelled the giant, flailing all four of his arms wildly in a complete loss of composure. "Disgusting! Vile! Loathsome and putrid! Get this mess off me!"

"Come on, big guy. You'll get used to it... eventually, anyway."

Elsa's eyes sprung wide open in shock. That was... her voice. Cautiously, she turned around with almost leery anticipation, terrified that perhaps her hopes would be dashed once more... only to see Anna's freckled, perpetually cheery face grinning at her.

"A-Anna?" she uttered weakly. Her blue eyes began to sting and blur, and she was in half a mind to just squeeze her sister right there, just to confirm that she wasn't simply a hallucination, or a ghost.

The redhead's grew even warmer, and she rested a hand on Elsa's shoulder with that usual confidence she'd always carried. "Elsa, don't just give up that quickly after all we've been through! Have a little faith in everyone!" she playfully scolded. "We weren't going to just leave you twisting in the wind without saying goodbye! We've worked too hard for it!"

"That's a nice little talk you've got there and all, but it doesn't bring us any closer to taking this guy down." a man contended.

Too overwhelmed for words, Elsa whipped her head to see a still-alive and intact Kristoff rushing to the group, his cautious eyes trained on the Bergrisi for any further signs of foul play.

"Yeah, I thought having water splashed onto him was going to work for sure..." Anna admitted, scratching her head. "It should've work like in one of those old stories..." The Princess' blue eyes took note of Elsa and Ingrid's blank stares, and she pouted defensively with her hands on her hips. "Hey, we were still working on trying to beat him, alright?"

A voice emerged from the mist, barging into everyone's trail of thought. "You can talk about it later! Just get over here, guys!"

Everyone turned their head in its direction, where a certain blacksmith beckoned for them into the skeletal remains of a home. Nodding to each other in agreement, they rushed inside, with Kristoff assisting the florist in carrying the unconscious soldier. Their usher peeked back out to search for the Bergrisi one last time, before finallyfacing the rest with a confident smile. "I don't think he can smell us anymore."

"Sigurd? What are you doing here?" Elsa asked.

"You're not the only one who want to get rid of our giant problem." The blacksmith beamed at her in earnest. "Besides, it would be disgusting of me to let my favorite assistant and her companions die, right?"

Elsa smiled a little, but then it fell apart; the entire town had become silent. Silent enough for their voices to rise once more. Chills went down her spine as she forced herself to listen to the cries of her kingdom, a wretched chorus that didn't just reach her ears...

"He's knows." whispered Kristoff.

"Don't remind me..." Elsa muttered. She rubbed at her temples to the time of the Bergrisi's steps.

Think! Think about everything we have gone through! Magic just bounces off him, bullets and cannonballs tickle him at best, blades are laughable, and he's too strong to let himself be lanced by an icicle... The platinum-blonde looked up at the sky, which was still that very same, oppressively grey color. If we don't figure something out, Arendelle will be destroyed before the sun even comes down!

Sun... down... Sundown. The time they have left before they were supposed to confront the Spokelse. Sundown, the time they must meet with Helge.

Helge... wait!

Elsa's eyes widened in shock. An inspiration began to course through her, whispering promises that seemed more like grasps at straws, but she'll take her hopes where she can get them. Turning to the only person who would know Helge and the experiences of his kind intimately, she exclaimed, "Kristoff! Your family must have known how to beat giants, right?"

While Ingrid and Sigurd gawked as if they'd just witnessed the Snow Queen going mad, the ice harvester only blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?"

Anna's blue eyes were the next to widen. The revelation made the redhead so giddy, she bounced with excitement as she faced her boyfriend as well. "Kristoff, you lived with trolls, right? Surely they must have had an idea or two about dealing with monsters like that Bergrisi guy!"

"Wait, am I hearing this right?" Sigurd interrupted. "You. The Queen of Arendelle, talking about trolls... they were real all along!? I loved all those stories about them!" The blacksmith faced the ice harvester with excitement burning in his eyes. "And you got to live with them? Come on man, you have to tell me everything-..." his voice trailed off under Kristoff's unamused glare. "...After you tell us what we need to know, of course."

"Everyone, just relax!" Kristoff snapped, irritated. "Look, why are you asking this? By the time Bulda took me in, there were no longer any giants lurking around the Valley. I have about as much of a clue as the rest of you guys."

"But... they must have told you something, right?" Anna joined in, giving Kristoff a rather pathetic look.

The ice harvester sighed. "Bulda and the others have dealt with giants from time to time, but most of the time they were just preventive measures. Blocking out caves, checking for potential resting spots, that kind of stuff. Nobody besides maybe Pabbie have been told to have defeated one, and even the old man refuses to admit it."

"They block out caves?" Anna asked. "Did they ever actually, you know, cause a hole to cave in while the giant was still inside?"

"I guess that's a possibility." said Kristoff, scratching the back of his neck. "That doesn't change anything though. We can't stuff this thing back inside his resting spot, and last time I've checked, Arendelle didn't exactly grow itself a ceiling."

Elsa backed herself against a wall and stared up at a ceiling that no longer existed, courtesy of the Bergrisi. Then... we truly have no more options left. she thought in frustration. We've lost.

Unless...

The Snow Queen stood up on her feet with the energy one would expect from her younger sister. "Kristoff... you're a genius." she breathed.

"Heh, right." Kristoff responded with a wry smile. "What else did Sven try telling you?"

"No, I'm serious!" Elsa replied in earnest, pointing a finger at the grey skies up above. "If I can just... you know. Make... something..." In light of her friends' curious gazes, she allowed her voice to die off. It suddenly occurred to her how badly battered most looked: Kristoff looked like he was sporting a purple lump the size of an egg on his forehead, while Anna's upper lip was cut to the point of leaving behind a trail of dried blood. That wasn't even going into the Ingrid's disheveled state after only seconds of confrontation, or the blotchy mess that was Captain Arvid.

Slowly, the platinum-blonde let reality retake control of her conscience, and she turned her back against the others, arms holding herself tight. "...Nevermind. I-its... it's nothing." Just as Elsa was feeling the faint glimmer of hope promptly catch fire into a renewed vigor and enthusiasm, a simple foresight was enough to snuff it out just as fast, leaving her emptier inside than ever.

Anna stared at Elsa in stunned silence for a few seconds, and suddenly she began to scowl. Before anyone could stop her, the redhead leapt to her feet and she marched straight up to the Snow Queen, jutting her chin out in resolution. "Hey! You begin with something, you might as well finish it, Elsa!" she barked. "Spill it!"

"Anna, please-" Kristoff objected.

"No no! It's okay!" Elsa said, unclasping her arms. She looked into her sister's furious eyes, and breathed a long breath to compose herself. "I was... I was thinking about borrowing Kristoff's suggestion." The platinum-blonde didn't say anything else, partly out of hope that they would just write her off as nonsensical.

The ensuing silence as the words sunk in was not an encouraging sign. Already, she regretted opening her mouth. One second, two seconds... and yet not one person said anything yet. Elsa couldn't help but feel impatient. "W-well?"

"Well... can you do it?" Ingrid asked timidly.

"Huh?"

"Of course she can!" Anna interjected. "She's Elsa! She can drop a whole mountain if she wanted to!"

"Waitwaitwait, hold on-"

"It's still a bit of a long shot though..." Kristoff mulled, interrupting the platinum-blonde. "Even if we were to do something on a lesser scale, the giant could see what's going on right away."

"Oh, that can be easily fixed!" Sigurd commented. "We just need to give this guy some targets, buy some time! If we can bait him long enough, we can finally strike-"

"Enough!" shouted Elsa, cutting off the group's conversation short with a swipe of her hand. "No one is going to drop anything, no one is going to be bait! I mean, look at all of you!"

Anna, Kristoff, Ingrid, and Sigurd glanced at each other.

"We're only five people! It's just us against an ancient all-powerful monster who just laughs every time we try fighting back!" Elsa clutched at her head, feeling her crippling anguish beginning to catch up to her: How Anna and Kristoff nearly died before her eyes, how even someone like Marshmallow was effortlessly torn to shreds, how all of her subordinates and friends were knocked down one by one like toys... Her chest was beginning to hurt...

Ingrid and Sigurd sputtered out loud; ice was beginning to pool out all over the floor from beneath the Queen's feet, who was now hyperventilating to an alarming degree.

"This is completely insane! We're not soldiers... or-or experienced fighters!" Elsa continued rambling. "How could we possibly compare-"

Anna abruptly wrapped her arms around Elsa, focusing all her assurance into this one hug. The platinum-blonde didn't finish her sentence or struggle, only drinking in the Princess' presence, her gentle touch instinctively; gradually, she emptied herself with Anna's support, feeling her troubled thoughts soothed by the welcome heat of a living being, her anxieties replaced by all the comfort and security a loving family could provide. Matching its creator's relaxing state, the ice surrounding the two dissipated, fading away into the wind.

"A-... Anna?" Elsa mumbled.

"It's alright, sis. Just look at me."

The weight wrapped around Elsa's body resided, allowing the platinum-blonde to look into her sister's warm, loving eyes.

"Maybe it's true that we're all that's left between the giant and the entire kingdom. Maybe it's true that what we're about to do is completely insane." To the Queen's surprise, her baby sister broke into a wide grin. "But you know what? That only means we have to hit him with everything we have!" she exclaimed, punching the air. "I say the crazier, the better!"

Elsa blinked. Seeking advice, she flicked her eyes to the ice harvester who'd been standing nearby.

"I can't believe I'm saying this... but Anna's right. Everyone's going to have to pitch in, or else none of this can possibly work."

"Don't worry, Queen Elsa!" declared Sigurd. "You can count on us!"

"We'll try not to die... I think." Ingrid added.

"Trust in us, Elsa!"

"Everyone..." Elsa closed her eyes and took in a long, calming breath. In hindsight, she felt a little silly for breaking down at this point and time: She already made a promise to herself to trust in others, to rely more on her friends. They took her by surprise by proving themselves once, and there's no doubt they can easily replicate their success if she gave them the chance. If this is going to ever work, she'll need every helping hand she can get. "Just... please stay alive!"

All the others beamed. "Right!"

---

With both his sets of normal and crystalline fingers curling hungrily, the Bergrisi marched with confident deliberation towards where he'd heard that absolutely wondrous sound of humans begging for their lives. No doubt they were groveling on all fours like the muck they've always been, waiting with bated breath as one by one they would be picked off. The giant would've been lying if he said the thought didn't give him great pleasure, but that matters not: His goal, his harvest, is almost at hand. He must act quickly.

It's not nearly as entertaining if they have already fell to slumber.

"Hey you, I'm over here!"

Ah, that little mouse. The Bergrisi grinned, but ignored her voice and continued marching. The mist ahead of him parted to reveal a rather grand wall of stone on the other side of a wide opening, one that stretched across the boundaries of the fjord. From behind, the concentrated stench of simians emanating was exceptionally grimy.

The redhead bristled at the monster walking away, and she cupped her hands to her mouth before shouting, "Hey, you big dummy! Why don't you turn around and finish what you started?"

The ice harvester standing by Anna's side raised an eyebrow. "Smooth, Anna. That is a great way to keep yourself alive." Twisting his neck to the back, he raised his voice and shouted: "Elsa! Do it now!"

Two lances that could have passed for rocket flares whisked above the companions' heads, briefly painting the battle-scarred town in wintery blue light. One burst against the floor earlier than the other, missing the Bergrisi entirely. Fortunately, the other made contact with the house directly to the monster's right side, erupting into a frozen star that skewered the air in every facet with frightening speed, covering him from the neck down.

Elsa relaxed. So far, everything was going to plan... It's about time she makes this up to everyone...

The Snow Queen of Arendelle rubbed at her hands in preparation, and took a single step.

Back at the other side of the street, the giant simply smirked; not even the Snow Queen's magic could harm him now. She simply wasn't worth the effort anymore.

No sooner had this thought past the brute's mind though, when his pleased expression reversed into a scowl: True, the nest of icicles did little against his enhanced skin. Instead, it filled every space the Bergrisi couldn't occupy, with icicles that slipped under and around his limbs, locked around his joints, caging his chest and legs, essentially snaring his body into the next best thing to a solid block of ice. Forced to rely on the contraction of his muscles alone, he was hardly prepared for the lines of thick, steel chains coiling themselves around his neck.

"Wha-... What is this nonsense, humans!?" The vein on the Bergrisi's bald head was practically ballooning now, and he wrenched himself free from his icy restraints to confront the two yanking on his tethers. Steam vented from his chipped nostrils, and his exposed amethyst eyeball displayed equal measures of fury and indignation. He swiped a hand to knock Kristoff and Anna away-

-Only for his backhand to abruptly veer into the ground, missing the two humans entirely. The Bergrisi shook his head in disbelief, and practically grinded his tombstone teeth audibly once the dust cleared; standing between him and his would-be victims was a young woman, the same girl who'd stalled his execution only minutes before. She stared up at him with panic threatening to overwhelm her, but remained standing with her hands out defensively. She attempted flash an audacious grin like the other two had done, but it came off as awkward and lopsided.

"Whoa, you did it again! Seriously, how'd you do that?" the redhead asked, intrigued.

"Anna, stay focused." Kristoff lightly chided. "We can talk lat- look out!"

The giant surged forward with all four of arms reared for the attack, requiring Kristoff to let go of the chains and snatch Ingrid and Anna away. Barely managing to avoid the Bergrisi's four-way crunch, the ice harvester once again turned tail and ran, taking care to hop over a thin trail of snow.

The Bergrisi sprung after them, kicking gouges into the road pavement as he drew closer. "Gurahahahaha! What happened to your so-called bravery, humans!? Wasn't this the match you desired-"

"Now!" shouted Anna.

"Alright!" answered Sigurd: A net woven in heavy chains burst from the line of snow right in front of the Bergrisi. He smashed headlong into it, but easily treated the entanglement like a flimsy cobweb with hardly a beat of delay.

Fortunately for the human combatants, that wasn't the obstacle's original purpose anyway; they had already predicted not even the strongest bindings can stand against the Bergrisi's great bulk, especially once he builds momentum to make himself a truly terrifying opponent. Besides, Sigurd was only able to scrounge up enough iron links from the docks.

Which was why Ingrid had to join Kristoff and Anna later as bait.

By the time the Bergrisi realized something was amiss, he'd already fallen to the team's plans; tied on each end of the net was a ship anchor. They whipped around the Bergrisi's head, orbiting until they smashed into him in a two-way collision. The impact was so devastating, his mask-like features spat shards of stone to reveal the insides of his gruesome cheekbones. To add insult to injury, Anna and Kristoff chose this moment to dive in and grasp the monster's leash once more, with Ingrid prodigal strength this time contributing to the effort. The Bergrisi now had nowhere to go.

"Arrogant!" he screamed, pulling at his chained neck with a hand. "Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant! Why can't you all just lay down and acknowledge this foolery!?"

A massive fist made of ice and snow stuffed itself into the Bergrisi's wide-open mouth, and then he was subjected to several mighty punches to the gut. The behemoth of a snow golem, fully revitalized, stared hard into the giant's shocked eyes with the most sullen of expressions. "Too loud..." Marshmallow muttered.

"Ha! I see that persistence remains to be your only talent as usual, construct!" The monster's chest began to balloon at the pectorals, leading to rather strange phenomenon: The prominent fissure on his sternum began exacerbate even further, emitting rays of amethyst purple light from beneath his plated skin while spewing gas like a volcanic vent. He then whipped Marshmallow with his shoulder, using his larger size to his advantage, and sent the snow golem staggering backwards.

"Gurahahahaha!" The Bergris straightened his fingers into a knifehand, and swung it in an overhand chop; Marshmallow's entire face caved in on itself. The giant seized the moment to shove the stunned snowman aside, and made a grab for the humans clinging to his tethers.

Kristoff was the only one to have seen the giant coming. There wasn't even enough time to give a warning; he shoved the Princess and the florist out of the way, allowing himself be seized around the legs by the malicious monster.

Anna's body bounced as she hit the road, only coming to a stop once she slammed head-first into a surprisingly hard lump of snow. "Owowowow..." she moaned, wiping the powder out of her face. She gingerly nursed a sore spot, and winced from the simple touch alone. "Ah geez, that's gonna leave a mark."

"Mrph..."

The deep, rumbling groan prompted the redhead to shift her gaze to the back, causing her to gasp in surprise: rolling his head sluggishly was a face had certainly seen better days: His visage was twisted, malformed, and scrunched up, bearing the striking resemblance to a crumpled ball of paper. Still, even that did little to misidentify the rest of his body. "Marshmallow!"

"Gurahahahaha! Now isn't this a familiar situation?" taunted the Bergrisi; he held Kristoff tightly in his grip, letting the mountain man's upper body dangle upside-down as helplessly as a partially-filled sack of carrots. "It'd be too gauche if I just repeated what I did with your chest. How about we try the integrity of your legs instead..."

Anna's heart plunged down to the bottom of her stomach, and her eyes started moving from side to side, scanning the worn town for something, anything to help her stand back up. She wasn't going to just wait and leave Kristoff up to chance, even though her legs and arms felt like gelatin - it already cost too much effort for her just to sit back up.

Think... think think think! Anna thought to herself, rubbing her forehead with the heel of her hand. Her eyes went back to the downed snowman. He didn't pay any attention to the redhead, or perhaps he couldn't; Marshmallow's face showed little to no sign of regenerating. Even a massive golem like him would be useless if blinded. Unless...

"Marshmallow, wake up!" alerted the redhead.

The snow golem tried to stare obliquely at Anna, but only managed to face a little too far to her right. "...Hrm?"

The Princess clawed her way to Marshmallow's hands and tugged on his ice fingers. "I know you can't see anything right now, but we have to save Kristoff!" A jolt of inspiration struck her mind, and she shook the golem even harder. "Quick, put me onto your back!"

Marshmallow quizzically tilted his head at her.

"Look, I don't care how! Just-... just throw me up or something! Now's not the time to worry about rudeness or- whoa!"

The hand she'd rested against wrapped its fingers around her before she could finish her sentence, and suddenly she was no longer against densely-packed snow, but flying so high into the air that she could have touched the edge of a rooftop with an elbow, if she was just a little less desperate, and a lot less focused. As her ascent slowed, she closed her eyes to brace for the impact... only to find herself resting directly on top of Marshmallow's head.

"Grah!"

"Oops! I'm so, so sorry." Anna apologized, patting the golem's squashed face gently. She wriggled her body, allowing herself to slide onto a crook that would have served as the golem's neck before hugging it tightly. "...Thanks for listening to me."

The blinded snowman nodded. "Where are they?"

The little lady quickly caught the silhouette of the four-armed monstrosity on the other end of the street, still taunting the struggling ice harvester with more enthusiasm than she's ever saw him. What he said was rendered indecipherable by the ruined structures echoing his graveled, thunderous voice, but they were hateful words, taunts made to belittle his victim down to their very essence.

She needed to act fast.

"Okay, um... just go straight ahead!" Anna instructed, digging her hands into the nape of Marshmallow's neck. "Right where your head's facing- nonono, that's a little too far to the right. Just a little more... got it! Now, go!"

The first step was probably hardest: the moment Marshmallow cautiously placed one foot forward, Anna was already shaken loose from her position, forcing her to dig her toes as deep as she could into the snowman's back to avoid falling.

"Anna?"

"I'm okay! It's fine, just keep going!" Anna seethed through clenched teeth. Somehow, the Princess managed to secure herself between some of Marshmallow's spines, whose spacing in between seemed to have been widened to accommodate her. As the golem moved faster and faster, Anna craned her neck over his shoulder to get a good view of the Bergrisi.

This didn't escape the notice of the six-limbed amethyst beast, who paused his tirade to sneer at the rapidly approaching golem. "Why, isn't it the construct?" he bellowed. The giant shot a hand forward, snagging the ice behemoth around the throat. "Come now, I knew you were lowly, but to let a human crawl freely onto your back?" he purred.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" barked Anna. "Keep going, Marshmallow. We're almost there!"

"Gurahahahaha! That is just too precious!" The Bergrisi assumed a sideways stance, with the hand holding Kristoff positioned away from the incoming golem, all but ready to intercept him with the strength of his multiple arms. " Just try me, you insignificant lowlifes! I will happily ground you into dust once again-"

An iron chain looped itself around one of the Bergrisi's forearms into an improvised cuff, pulling it a fair distance away from its original position. Following its taut down to its source, the monster's violet eye fell upon the only two people left to stand against him. Sweat rolled down Ingrid and Sigrid's forehead as they pulled with all their weight, two humans struggling against one amoral beast.

"Bah, can't you all see that it's all useless!?" The Bergrisi tore the chain away from the two humans and began whipping at them; the two dove away, narrowly dodging slashes that split stone. Without even breaking form and possibly leaving himself open for Marshmallow, the monster continued to flail at the fleeing combatants, punctuating every swing with a vicious snarl. "Useless, useless, useless, useless!"

The abomination raised his wrapped arm high in preparation for another swing... but just as he brought the chain down, Ingrid chose to burst out of hiding, carrying a long metal cylinder that that was nearly her own size. She carried it all the way up to the Bergrisi's front and raised it above her head, letting out a soft gasp as she did so; the iron links slapped against the support and kept on rolling. Locking itself tight, the chain now forced the two to engage in a tug of war.

"The same trick!" complained the Bergrisi. "You vermin are tenacious to the point of inanity! Even this one won't stop squirming!" The giant glared at the dangling ice harvester, who indeed scrabbled at the tremendous fingers slowly crushing his legs. "Why stall the inevitable!?"

Ingrid glanced at Kristoff fearfully, but swallowed as she resolved herself to stare the Bergrisi into his gruesome violet eye. "Well, um..." she squeaked. "That's kind of the thing."

"Hah?"

"We've been stalling you."

Before the Bergrisi could process exactly what the florist had been mumbling about, chains and ropes sprouted from behind crevices and obstructions all around him, tangling his body, his feet, neck, mouth, and even all four of his muscular arms into a gargantuan bundle of bindings.

"Wha-... hargle!" the Bergrisi gagged. The thick chords pulling his mouth and cheeks back made his voice come out somewhat garbled. "W-What is this!? I demand to know!"

"Tsk, tsk. You really shouldn't go around disregarding human tenacity..." A leather-clad man with sharp, intelligent eyes stepped into view from behind a broken wall. "Don't you remember all of these lovely folks, you cheap-grade supersized moron?" Flashing the stunned Bergrisi the cheekiest of smiles, Peter Himmel tugged on his end of the rope. Immediately, others followed suit behind him in droves, men and women dressed in tattered military outfits who nevertheless possessed eyes that shone with determination and fighting spirit. They all surrounded the giant in a wide ring, each carrying an end of rope or chain that they used to rein the monster in place.

"That man in your hand was the one who came up with the idea." Sigurd brightly revealed; he was the last of the men to emerge out of hiding. "We knew we couldn't buy enough time for anything if it was just four against you, so Kristoff told me to get as many soldiers out of your traps as I could, while he and the others distracted you!"

The Bergrisi gave everyone surrounding him a cold glower... and then he sneered. "So what?" He tossed Kristoff into the air and snatched him once more, securing a grip on the ice harvester's torso. "I'll just blow everyone to bits, and your friend along with you!" The monster pulled the hand back to himself, slowly and deliberately as if he was cocking a gun backwards...

Peter Himmel's eyes widened, and he shouted to the others in panic, "Stop him! Pull harder! He's going to do that shockwave again!"

"Gurahahahaha! It's already too late for you, simians! Say goodbye-"

"Looks like you forgot about us, Mister Bergrisi!" A pair of massive hands made of ice and snow squeezed the Bergrisi's forearm tightly, just millimeters before that telltale "click" could sound his devastating attack. Under Anna's direction, Marshmallow grunted, using his claws to pry the beast's fingers open wide enough for her to pull Kristoff out. When the Bergrisi tried to intervene, the humans on the ground pulled on his arms and stretched them out, preventing him from getting any closer.

"Gah, my legs!" Kristoff groaned, freed of his torment. "With what this guy did, they might as well be broken!"

Anna merely smiled at him, a sentiment which the mountain man endeavored to return. Together, the two rolled off Marshmallow's arm, letting themselves be caught by Ingrid and He Xiongqiang waiting below. As they fell, the golem let out a thunderous roar and swung a clothesline at the Bergrisi, landing the attack right in the neck.

"Gwuh!" garbled the giant, reeling backwards.

"He's falling!" Sigurd shouted. "Get him on his back!"

All the soldiers and privateers answered back with a collective "Heave!", a shout so immense it rattled windows and frames loose, rolling through the streets for seconds without dropping even one iota in volume. Before the Bergrisi could reestablish his balance, they pulled in tandem, - finally, the combined efforts of everyone involved and Marshmallow finally toppled the great beast.

When he fell, it wasn't with just a simple thud: the Bergrisi's arm were outstretched, leaving very little to buffer his descent. When he made contact with the floor, including his increased mass and the required strength to lift him off his toes, the resulting impact was enough to break whatever was left of the surrounding structures into mere piles of broken bricks and wood, enough to kick dust and rocks upwards in a thick layer, nearly drowning the combatants in debris. That wasn't mentioning the noise of such an event, which rivaled the spirited cry of the people in concert several times over, even causing those close enough to temporarily lose their sense of hearing.

"No! No no no no!" the Bergrisi screamed. "Unhand me, vermin! Do you know what you are playing at here-... here..." His amethyst eye blinked twice in rapid succession, and he squinted through the dust and grey mist up to the sky. "A... hexagon?"

Pillars made of what seemed like thick glass descended from the sky like fantastic rain, digging themselves deep into pavement and causing many soldiers to hop away in alarm. They surrounded the Bergrisi's body in six points, forming a hexagon that actually translated with the one floating in the sky.

Anna chuckled. "It's my big sister!"

"What!?" The Bergrisi fought against the bindings that kept him tied and splayed on the floor, but even his phenomenal stature did nothing to loosen his coils. "The whole time-... it was a ruse!?"

Hundreds of feet in the air, surpassing the height of the fjord walls surrounding the kingdom, Elsa dug her borrowed shoes into the frosted platform to brace against the high winds. While the stage was quite the impressive work from an outsider's perspective, with its glass-like transparency and boasting an area larger than some room floors, getting here was the real challenge. Elsa couldn't simply craft a stairway to the heavens for the same reason tall buildings are difficult to construct; the thing would have fallen apart before she could get very far off the ground. Even now, Elsa swore the hexagonal platform had been swaying from side to side under her feet until she planted those columns.

Hence the Snow Queen's need for a diversion. Despite Elsa's initial reluctance, especially since she knew her part of the plan was a mere pittance compared to what the others must be experiencing at the moment, Anna and the others had volunteered themselves to buy her time. Everything they had been working towards - the baiting, the binding, the risks taken, the strategizing, the repeated brushes with near death - that was all so the Bergrisi would keep his attention where the others are, and not up above. Otherwise, the giant would have smashed the supports and render the effort worthless.

"Don't let go of those ropes now!"

"Go Elsa!"

"Finish him off, Your Majesty!"

"Kick his butt, sis!"

Thanks to the intense winds blowing her hair and cape back, the shouts were faint by the time they Elsa's ears. Even so, she reflexively ran to the edge of the platform and looked down to investigate. There they were, hordes of people ringing around the giant grey body like ants carrying dark threads. She could even see hints of their faces, faces whose battered state obscured neither their energy nor excitement. Among them, she could even see a little redhead, waving her arms, a blond man cupping his mouth towards the sky.

The Snow Queen's vision blurred, but she didn't pause to breathe. She wasn't going to let them down.

With a flip of her cape, Elsa ran back to the epicenter of the hexagonal platform and stomped twice: Power surged down her foot and pulsed outwards on the ice. Like a single ripple of light disturbing the surface of a pool, it spread and ran down the stage's side, and then collided into a single point on the other side of where her soles laid. The platform shuddered as if it was alive, and a small needle, no longer than Elsa's pinky, emerged from the center.

Now, if the planned icicle had just stopped there, than it would have been considered too pathetic by anyone's standards. Instead, the tip began to reach farther, stretching and telescoping as the crystalline base peeled away increasingly larger tier upon tier, a fashion reminiscent of a multilayered wedding cake; by the time the end product stopped growing, it wasn't so much a giant stalactite as it was an architectural wonder, an articulate palace spire that was flipped upside-down.

On the second stomp, the crisp snap of ice breaking loose sounded from all six pillar points and the staircase: the prismatic iceberg was now engaging in freefall. It slid hundreds of feet through the six columns that served as its railing system, descending on the Bergrisi strapped to the center.

"No! No!" He thrashed and screamed against his bindings of course, all the while foaming at the mouth in denial. He even managed to break some of the ropes holding him apart.

By then, it was already too late.

Within just a few seconds, the tip had slipped between the cracked plates on his sternum. Like a driven wedge, the iceberg split the Bergrisi's skin apart as it sank deeper into his flesh, exposing the amethyst anatomy to the open air. The force of its impact was surprisingly graceful, digging into its victim with the efficiency of an expert diver minimally breaking the water's surface, but its colossal weight carried a force that nevertheless swamped the surrounding area in a mixture of upturned dust and snow, briefly blotting out nearly everyone's vision.

The Bergrisi no longer screamed.

Anna, who was still sheltered in Mister He's arms while the smog blasted everyone else, was the first to recover. Rubbing at her blue eyes, she gasped at the bizarre tableau on display in front of her: the imposing hexagonal spire looked even larger up close, and somehow remained standing and intact. Piles of pale powder laid all around, sprinkled with shards of ice and brick chunks. At the very bottom of the site, the many limbs of a grey, giant figure splayed listlessly onto the pavement, the amethyst exposed no longer glowing so intensely.

...The rest of the Bergrisi's body was simply gone. Vanished, possibly buried several yards under the ground.

"Elsa..." Anna suddenly mumbled. Her eyes widened, and she pushed herself away from Mister He to stand on her own two feet. "Elsa!"

"...Guys?..." A large snow pile not too many feet away from the impact site coughed, sending little puffs of snow into the air.

Anna choked out of surprise, and ran so hard she stumbled at the last second and landed on the pile with her knees, eliciting a cry of pain from within.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry! Please forgive me, Elsa! I am so, so sorry..." Anna profusely apologized, pawing away at the snow until she could feel something distinctly soft, if not necessarily warm. With a few brushes of her finger, her older sister's tired face came into view in the dull lighting. The redhead was so overjoyed by the sight, she dug her hands into the snow and wrapped them around Elsa's neck, pressing her lips directly onto the Queen's pale forehead. "Your alright! Everyone! She's okay!"

The entire crowd burst into relieved cheers. "Your Majesty!"

You did it, Queen Elsa!"

"Excellent show, Ellie! Can hardly have done it better myself!"

"Puh, puh! Phtphtphhht- blech." Elsa sputtered, spitting snow out of her mouth as she squirmed half her body free. She made an effort to smile at everyone, who all gathered around to confirm the platinum-blonde's safety for themselves.

"Well. That was... something." Kristoff commented, letting himself be gently placed down by Ingrid. He observed the two sisters for a moment, his exhausted grin turning into a smirk. "You both look like a mess. Especially you, Elsa."

"Why don't you try falling down a long distance?" Elsa asked.

Kristoff shot a knowing glance at Anna, who nervously chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Well. Uh... hey, let me help you up!" With the assistance of Mister He, she pulled the rest of Elsa free from the snow, and let the platinum-blonde lean against her for support. Together, they limped towards what was left of the Bergrisi, the creature who gave them so much grief this whole time. What was left of him made no sign of noticing the sisters.

"So, Mister Bergrisi..." Elsa quietly said. "Looks like we've won."

A film slid over the giant's crystal eye as the giant blinked. "Then don't look at me with such pity in your eyes, human."

Everyone jumped back. Some rude expletives were exclaimed in alarm while Anna, not possessing nearly as colorful a vocabulary, settled with hissing at the creature. Ingrid in particular came close to fainting upon realizing one glob was bubbling away on her jacket.

"How are you still talking!?" exclaimed Sigurd.

"All of that, and you're still alive!?" Captain Himmel incredulously shouted, squeezing the handle of his cutlass.

"Yeah, you still want more? Put 'em, then!" Anna challenged.

"Hah... hah... As if I'm interested in a fight anymore... I don't have much time here left..." the Bergrisi groaned.

Anna's face burned red with anger. "You horrible excuse of a... a thing! Do you know just how much damage you caused!? You didn't fix anything, and you're already going away-"

"-As if I cared, little mouse. What use am I to you now anyway?" The creature's face pulled into a grimace, and he coughed ferociously, spraying fluids that boiled away upon contact with the open air. One sizable glob splashed onto Ingrid's dress before bubbling away, threatening the girl to faint. "Unfinished business aside, I'll gladly accept this over Subjugation..."

"Wait, 'unfinished business'..." The Queen of Arendelle dropped down on knee and leaned closer to the monster, drawing a hush of voices among the crowd. She could feel the rest of them slowly closing in, eager to listen to the conversation. "You tried to destroy my hometown, Mister Bergrisi. You've deliberately attempted to kill everyone under my rule. Thanks to you, I'm in hardly in any shape for anything the Spokelse may throw at us-"

The Bergrisi engaged in yet another violent fit of coughs. "Gurahahahaha... Oh, you ignorant human... you think you had a shimmer of hope in the first place?"

Elsa's dark brows furrowed closer together. "W-what do you mean?"

"Didn't it ever occur to you how strange this day had been? How cold the air was, how thick the clouds and the sky and the mist in ground are?" The edges of the Bergrisi's mouth shivered, and his grin vanished in the blink of an eye. "What other foolish runt could have done it?"

At first, the platinum-blonde tilted her head out of confusion, wondering exactly what could the giant be rambling about in his death throes. At the edge of her peripheral vision, the grey, soupy mist that had pervaded Arendelle for most of the day was beginning to return. Pretty much everyone, herself included, had always passed off the strange weather as a harmless, if albeit odd, anomaly.

The Bergrisi's amethyst eyeball stared levelly at her. "You didn't think I caused those people to scream, did you?"

And then it hit Elsa. "No..." A prickling sensation trickled down the platinum blonde's spine, and an icy well pooled at the bottom of her stomach. "No, no no no! I-it has to be a mistake!"

Next to her, her younger sister sputtered, "Wait, what!? He's already here?"

"Not yet..." The Bergrisi leaned his head back tiredly. "He's closer than you humans have estimated though, from the look on your faces." An unmistakable sound of crumbling rock met Elsa's ears, prompting her to scrutinize him closer; patches of the giant's skin were bleaching and spreading like fungal growths.

"Hold on!" rose Kristoff's voice; he had been listening intently on the conversation as well, drawing puzzled looks from those around him. "Helge told me he should have been locked up in that other world!"

The Bergrisi eyed the mountain man with the air of an elder regarding an especially dim child. "So he's been barred in Helheim. So he's been rendered vulnerable, so he's been thrown out the door and closed away... Look around you, human, there's no denying it. Do you still believe the rules of the spirit wouldn't allow him to whisper beyond the threshold?"

The ice harvester attempted to scowl at the creature, but the expression was marred by a wave of confliction.

"Hmph. You should be glad that foolish child is human, more human than he will ever admit. More so than any of you realize..."

"Bu- but wait!" Anna said hurriedly. "Why are you tell us all of this? Why now?"

The giant didn't say anything.

"...It's revenge, isn't it?" Elsa stated, coming to an understanding. "It's that grudge you've been talking about when we first met. You still held him accountable for insulting you."

"Gurahahahaha... what else can I say? Unfinished business. I owe that much to you..." The bleaching had crawled up to his neck now, causing him to choke and gasp for breath. Even so, no one can say otherwise that the monster seemed to be sincerely at peace with himself: A warm, genuine smile slowly widened on the Bergrisi's face. The corners of his lips didn't even stretch across his entire face, as it was the first one unmarred by his inhuman desire for violence and blood.

"H-hey, wait! We still have so many questions!" Elsa protested. "You can't go just yet!"

"Farewell, humans... construct... For what it is worth..." the Bergrisi rumbled, "I... am happy to have met all of you." The bleaching was almost complete. The light in his crystal eye and open wounds dimmed. The muscles on the creature's face relaxed, and his monstrous visage melted away, revealing wrinkles and care lines that never existed before. No longer did he look like a monster from the mountains. Now, he was simply a grizzled, scarred, old giant of a man lying on his back, counting down his last seconds.

"Gurahahahaha..." The Bergrisi tried sucking in one more breath. "Today... I... truly had fun..."

And then he stopped moving.

All was silent once more.

No one, not the liveliest members in the audience, not the giant snow behemoth standing aside, not even all of the town itself, made a sound.

Anna glanced at Elsa, and then to Kristoff. "So... now what?"

The ice harvester shook his head. "We must get to Helge immediately. If we're lucky, we may still have time before-..." Kristoff froze. His brown eyes glazed over, and he collapsed onto the pavement with a heavy thud.

"Kristoff!" Anna screamed. She ran to his side, shoving people away who had gathered around him in concern. Placing a hand on the mountain man's broad chest, her eyes widened in complete horror. "He's so cold!"

"What!? How-" Elsa shouted, but then a soldier not too far away stumbled to the floor without warning. And then another man fell. And another. People in the crowd started to drop like flies while others shouted the same diagnosis: Cold bodies, stopped bodies, a complete lack of movement. The voices surrounded Elsa as she looked left and right desperately, with not a single idea on how to help them. Could it be my powers? she thought in the rising chaos. What sort of magic is this? What else was the Bergrisi implying? Why does this all feel so familiar? There are so many questions I could have asked-

Elsa's body jolted. A black, deathly chill starting from her heart oozed its way through the rest of her body. It felt poisonous, malicious, and just plain wrong. She couldn't even begin to describe how nauseous these sensations were making her. The platinum-blonde gagged and choked, shivering violently from just how freezing it was.

"Your Majesty! What's happening to your chest!?" somebody yelled.

Chest...? The Snow Queen looked down at her sternum; a small, frosted circle had appeared right above her bosom. Ice and frost slowly gathered around the immediate area and stacked on top of one another, forming a thin tower a couple of feet long and patterned with geometric fractals. With some imagination, this... thing protruding from her chest mirrored a demented flagpole, an elongated stake through the heart...

...Or a spear.

The last thing Elsa saw was the look of horror spreading on the sea of faces surrounding her. Her blue eyes rolled backwards, and she tumbled to the ground.

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End of Day Two

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Elsa the Snow Queen, Queen of Arendelle: Out of Function

[Unknown] the Bergrisi: Out of Function

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See you guys soon, fans of Frozen.