Chapter 26
Olaf was right, Arendelle truly was bright. Tall flames licked the sky on the far east of Arendelle. Fortunately, Lady Alexandra had not made much progress. Elsa watched as her parents' kingdom was slowly being destroyed right in front of her.
Anna was silent, but her eyes said it all – tears brimmed and blurred her vision. Anna stopped their horse on top of the large mound of snow where the perfect view of the destruction could be seen. Thankfully, there were no signs of citizens on the streets. But much to Elsa's dismay, she spotted a few bodies of guards she once saw diligently strolling through their castle – faces all too familiar, like shadows of a distant past.
"Anna, we're nearly there," Elsa softy said, as she battled against the emerging sob tearing through her throat. "I swear, I will make everything right again."
"We will make everything right again," Anna corrected. "I'm staying by your side, Elsa."
Elsa was unsure of how to respond. She knew she couldn't convince Anna to stay out of the fight – not with her stubborn personality, so she simply replied, "Thank you, Anna."
"Let's kick butt!" Olaf interrupted. Marshmallow roared in agreement with Christian still safely cradled in his hand.
"Seems like our little Olaf has toughened up," Anna said, amusedly. She turned to give Elsa a small smile.
"Yeah, let's go and kick some butt," Elsa said, and smiled despite the fear running rampant through her. They made their way towards the flames with just a little bit more hope than before.
It didn't take long before they eventually spotted Sergei's large form adorned with Lady Alexandra and Hans on the snowman's shoulders. Bruno, the bodyguard, was swinging his large battle axe at Christian's father, Captain Arthur – the two in a heated one-on-one battle.
"Come on, Bruno. Make me proud my loyal protector. Kill the captain!" Lady Alexandra urged atop of Sergei who was busy swatting off an army of guards. Hans was busy parrying arrows with his sword with surprising skill and precision – he had an annoying pompous look on his face as he easily deflected every single one of the guard's arrows.
Elsa watched the madness ensuing before her, and couldn't stand it a moment longer. "Anna," Elsa urgently whispered. "Stay here. Please, don't follow me."
Anna didn't have a chance to respond before Elsa suddenly leapt off of the horse and rushed towards the source of the flames. She wasn't thinking, and she was running on pure adrenaline. Once close enough to the flames, Elsa used her power to douse the flames before they could continue to wreak havoc on innocent people's homes.
"Elsa!" Anna desperately called out as soon as she realized how vulnerable Elsa was amongst the chaos.
Lady Alexandra, Hans, and even Bruno, stopped what they were doing once they spotted Elsa.
"It's Elsa!" Lady Alexandra cried, as Elsa continued to hurriedly try and put a stop to the spreading fire. "She is supposed to be dead!" Lady Alexandra then turned to see Anna still alive as well, and her anger rose. "Where the hell is, Sig!" Lady Alexandra growled. Her eyes caught the unconscious Christian in Marshmallow's hand, and her blood boiled. "You…" She quietly seethed.
While he had the chance, Captain Arthur roared out to his men, "What are you waiting for! Protect the Queen!"
The guards listened to their captain without any pause and proceeded to surround Elsa as she did her best to keep the flames at bay. Captain Arthur then attempted to strike down Bruno, but the man was ready for his attack, and blocked it. With another powerful swing of his axe, Bruno nearly cut Captain Arthur's head clean off his shoulders. Captain Arthur stumbled to the ground from the surprise attack, and he scrambled to get away from the quickly approaching Bruno.
"No," Anna said, as she helplessly watched Arthur become at the mercy of Bruno.
"Marshmallow! That's our cue!" Olaf cried out, and Marshmallow gently laid Christian on the back of Anna's horse before rushing into the fray.
Marshmallow tackled Bruno with astounding force, knocking the bodyguard clear across the field. But despite his bulky frame, the bodyguard was agile and landed on his feet like a cat.
"Arrgh!" Bruno furiously roared until spittle flew from his lips. He charged without fear at the giant snowman.
"Oh gosh, Marsh, here he comes!" Olaf cried out in fear as he covered his large eyes with his thin stick hands.
Marshmallow positioned himself like a football player playing defense and waited for Bruno to close in before he effortlessly nabbed him, but Bruno wouldn't go down without a fight. The bodyguard struggled to break free from Marshmallow's grasp as he growled like a mad dog. When he knew his efforts were wasted and that he had been defeated, he turned to Lady Alexandra who was watching the whole thing with an expressionless face.
"My Lady, forgive me. I couldn't protect you," were the last words Bruno spoke, and the most anyone had ever heard him say. Lady Alexandra continued to watch in silence as Marshmallow proceeded to easily crush Bruno in his icy palm, silencing him forever. Marshmallow tossed the bodyguard's corpse like a piece of trash far into the distance. Lady Alexandra's eyes carefully followed Bruno's large body fly through the air as if weightless until he was out of her sight. Lady Alexandra's mouth twitched slightly when she could no longer see Bruno. "He was… the closest thing I ever had to a friend," she whispered, a confession only she could hear.
Olaf took his hands away from his eyes and asked, "Is it over?"
Lady Alexandra didn't cry, but she had never felt such a sadness for a very long time. She knelt down and whispered to Sergei. "Sergei, remember what I promised you if you do whatever I ask?"
Sergei the snowman kicked away an Arendelle bodyguard before he answered, "I sure as hell do. You still haven't given me what I wanted. I'm not causing death and destruction for my health you know! Now grant me the wish to become human!"
Lady Alexandra chuckled at the snowman's absurd demand. She knew from the start she, of course, could never make Sergei a human, but what the dumb monster didn't know only benefited her in the end.
"Of course, I am a powerful witch after all," Lady Alexandra continued the charade.
"You're a witch alright," Sergei mumbled, and added, "And something else that rhymes with the word. I'll give you two guesses which word I'm thinking of."
Lady Alexandra chuckled again. "Oh, you are just so grumpily charming! Now, listen. If you kill Elsa and Anna, I promise you I will make you human."
Sergei stopped his sassing immediately and focused on Elsa who was trying to extinguish the last of the fire. Hans overheard the whole conversation and said, "I guess this is my stop," and leapt off of Sergei's shoulder and into the crowd of guards protecting Elsa, fighting them off with his nearly perfect swordsmanship.
"Once Hans thins out the crowd, that will be your chance to kill Elsa," Lady Alexandra instructed Sergei.
Anna witnessed guards topple like flies at Hans' feet as he quickly made a clear path to Elsa. "Marshmallow, please!" was all Anna had to say for Marshmallow to understand, and he rushed to Elsa's aid.
"Marsh! Marsh!" Olaf chanted in encouragement as Marshmallow collided with Sergei. Sergei was just as powerful as Marshmallow and the two giant snowmen locked arms in a battle of endurance. "Marsh! Marsh!" Olaf continued as Marshmallow did his best to push Sergei back.
"I'm going to become a human if it's the last blasted thing I do!" Sergei roared.
"A human?" Olaf said.
"I can't stand being a freak of nature any longer!" Sergei admitted in a roar mixed with self-loathing and rage.
"Is that why you're so cranky all the time? You don't like being a snowman?" Olaf asked, but Sergei didn't answer. Instead, his desire to become human gave him the advantage to slowly overtake Marshmallow.
"No! Marshmallow! You can do it!" Olaf encouraged, but Marshmallow was slowly losing.
Anna watched the chaos surrounding her as she sat paralyzed on her horse. Christian was splayed out behind her, but slowly, the young guard was reawakening.
"Sergei, stop! Please!" Olaf begged. "You can't become human, Lady Alexandra has been lying to you!"
But Olaf's words of truth did not register with Sergei, whose blind ambition drove him on. Marshmallow's arms were beginning to crack under Sergei's immense strength.
"Sergei, come on! Get these fools out of our way!" Lady Alexandra demanded.
Christian heard Lady Alexandra's voice and thought he was dreaming. His eyelids were heavy and hurting, but he opened them to see a scene not even his dreams could have produced. His head was pounding with a white-hot pain – a pain he had felt once before when he received the injury which left him mute.
Yes, he remembered it so vividly, and the voice of Lady Alexandra made the memory hurt even more. He lifted his head up to clearly see the twisted expression of madness on Lady Alexandra's face, marring her pretty features into an ugliness reflecting her soul.
Christian had never wanted to scream so badly in his life – to yell, cry out, and vent his frustration and anger at the woman who had overtaken and destroyed his life. But he couldn't. His vocal cords had been destroyed all because of her. His anger gave him enough strength to stumble off the horse and make his way towards Lady Alexandra.
"H-Hey, Christian!" Anna cried out when she realized Christian had left. Anna followed, but Christian turned and nodded his head no as he held out a hand for Anna to stay behind. He smiled at Anna with one eye closed, caked with blood. Anna stopped and stared at Christian turn around to slowly resume towards the battle.
"Son?" Captain Arthur said, when he saw Christian for the first time since they separated at Oaken's. Captain Arthur had jumped in to help his men protect Elsa and was fighting off Hans with everything he had. He was nearly stabbed by Hans when he was distracted from the sight of his son's terrible condition.
"Captain of the guard?" Hans mocked. "Ha! Your age is catching up to you, old man." Hans locked swords with Arthur and the two were in the same situation as Marshmallow and Sergei. Both pairs in a battle of raw strength.
But Christian quickly intervened despite his crippling injury. He unsheathed his sword and broke the contact between his father and Hans' swords. Hans was taken by surprise, but he laughed derisively when he realized it was a seriously wounded Christian who was challenging him.
Anna had never seen two people more opposite than Christian and Hans, and the two together confirmed that the world truly consisted of both good and evil.
"Why, if it isn't the mute peasant," Hans said, laughing. "Aren't you supposed to be on our side? After all, you've been pining for Lady Alexandra for quite some time now. What changed your mind, peasant?"
Christian glared at Hans, ready to do battle, his words not deterring him in the least.
Captain Arthur touched Christian's shoulder, confused and worried. "Son? What's happened to you? Where's Sig?"
Christian turned to look at his father and parted his lips slightly, wishing he could speak so he could tell him how much he loved him and how sorry he was for being the cause of all this.
"Christian, stand back, I can handle this," the captain said, but Christian stopped him, and pushed him back hard enough to provide enough distance between them, but not enough to harm his father.
Before Captain Arthur could regain his composure, Christian and Hans already began their fight.
"Look at you!" Hans cried out, gleefully." Look, Lady Alexandra! Look at the pathetic peasant!"
Lady Alexandra turned her attention away from Elsa and saw Christian dodge an attack from Hans which nearly caught his shoulder.
She stared at the determined and angry expression on the face she always remembered smiling pleasantly at her no matter how many times she would insult him. Why would he smile that? She would always think. He should hate me. I hate him. I hate how pathetic he is. I hate how he would never stop smiling. What reason is there to smile so much in this world?
Seeing the rage on Christian's face was strange and Lady Alexandra almost missed the smile of the peasant farmer she once knew. Almost.