A/N: I just wanna say, I'm surprised at how many follows I got so soon. I also appreciate the reviews; your supportive attitudes are very motivating.
Disclaimer: Frozen. Disney. Belongs to.
Chapter IV: "And with strange aeons..."
The news was not well received. Anna clenched her fists at her sides, shaking as her face grew dark. She spoke through her teeth, "What do you mean 'yet'?"
Kristoff shifted uncomfortably in his seat, shooting a quick glance to Elsa, whose line of sight was locked on the trembling redhead. The girl was making him nervous. "You saw something you weren't meant to see. I don't mean that in some mumbo-jumbo metaphorical way. No human escapes a monster sighting unscathed."
Panic washed over Anna like a sharp, cold rain, and her previously red face drained of color. With wide eyes, she stared blankly ahead, waiting for the man to continue.
"It's likely that once you come out of the shock of what you've seen, you'll lose your sanity temporarily. Maybe," he cleared his throat and swallowed hard, "maybe permanently. It's like an illness; the symptoms are brutal and can take hours before they start to manifest."
The words were strangled, but the redhead managed a feeble, "How likely?"
A heavy pause saturated by pheromones of fear assaulting the fair-haired cousins' senses.
"There are no recorded cases in our history of an exception." Elsa confessed.
Anna's breaths were coming in short, sharp gasps, aqua eyes, filled to the brim with terror, jack-knifing between the pair and the room adjacent that led to the exit. She tensed.
Elsa and Kristoff passed each other a split-second glance before lunging after the redhead, who broke into an abrupt flight for the front door.
Kristoff nearly caught her, his hand missing her arm by inches. His miscalculation caused him to hit the doorjamb of the dining room, staggering him further behind the fleeing girl with a loud, "FUCK!"
As Anna passed through the living room and into the foyer, she spared a glance over her shoulder; she didn't see Elsa, and didn't hear her footsteps. Vanished?
One step out from the door, she reached out to push the screen open and swung her gaze back around, slamming forcefully into the missing woman, who took a tight hold of her wrists as the redhead was repelled. Blue eyes flashed golden, and she opened her mouth in a snarl that revealed jagged, bestial teeth, releasing her hold when the younger woman backpedaled with a screech of fright.
Kristoff caught her before she fell, but the girl twisted and flailed, nailing the man's eye with her elbow. Swearing again, he stumbled a bit away from her, letting her hit the floor. The image of Elsa standing in that doorway, tall and commanding, was a terrific sight that called forth another shriek as Anna turned and scrambled at the floor to gain her footing.
Too late. Anna's stumbling gave Elsa the advantage she needed, and the woman was on her. She all but tackled the redhead, once again gripping her wrists and trapping them as she pressed herself bodily against her back and pinned her to the floor. The redhead struggled mightily, finding no give in the blonde's hold. As she continued to fight, she began hollering at the top her lungs, "Fuck you! This is fucked up! Let me fucking go! It's not fucking true!"
Elsa pressed down harder on her in response, pleading for reason in the face of fear, "Anna, please! Just listen!"
Another moment of trying to twist, and push, and pull, and Anna lay panting with her cheek pressed against the hardwood of the entry way.
"If you go out there with the sickness, they will lock you away and never let you out. You'll be a danger to other people and to yourself."
Anna squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the words, still gasping for breath.
"It would be negligent-" she paused, "No; outright irresponsible of us to let you go."
Elsa felt the strain of the redheads muscles beginning to wane, noting the sound of Kristoff muttering about his eye and the shuffle of his feet as he stood back up.
"I said I could help you, and I can, but I need you to trust me."
The girl sighed and swallowed the urge to cry out her frustration, "That's asking a lot considering the circumstances."
The blonde hesitated, loosening her hold on the redhead below her but still not releasing, "I know, but if you give me the chance, I'll show you that I deserve that trust." A beat. "Please," she begged more softly than before.
Time really seemed to drag on in the quiet that followed. Kristoff observed in studious silence as Elsa patiently waited for Anna to answer her.
"I don't want this," the girl whimpered.
"I know, but it's happening. Let me help you through this, and if you want, after that you won't ever have to see us again."
The last of Anna's resolve crumbled, and Elsa felt a physical shift in the girls body that prompted her to slowly lift herself from the floor back onto her feet. She watched the redhead as she continued to lay defeated on the hardwood for a moment longer before switching her attention to Kristoff, who was nursing his sore eye socket.
"Wow, she really clocked you good."
Kristoff looked away with an angry snort, "Shut up."
It took a while for Anna to get herself together, and Kristoff left once he was assured things had settled down to put the girl's livestock back in their proper place. That left Elsa alone with the redhead. She volunteered her room for the duration of Anna's stay and it proved to be "spartan", as the man had called it.
A nightstand with an alarm clock and a lamp next to a bed that lacked a frame sat against the far wall below a single window (with dark curtains drawn), and a plain wooden dresser was perched next to the door. There wasn't much else, save a few books stacked neatly against the wall.
They spoke little as the blonde changed the sheets and blankets on the bed. It was growing close to dawn by the time she finished and cautiously stepped past Anna to leave her to her privacy. She stopped briefly outside the door, hand rested on the knob, "If you need anything, call."
Anna shifted her weight slightly from one foot to the other, staring morosely at the carpet beneath her feet. Elsa seemed to sense that she wanted to say something and lingered, waiting patiently for what felt like the thousandth time that night.
"I'm scared."
The blonde crossed her arms over her chest in discomfort, looking away from the girl, using the gentlest tone possible, "I'm sorry for frightening you back there. I couldn't let you leave." From her periphery she saw Anna eyeing her closely, her own arms folded defensively.
With no small sense of shame, Elsa sighed, then opened her mouth, allowing the redhead to see that the savage fangs she presented before were no longer visible. If it weren't for feeling so thoroughly drained, Anna might have cracked a smile. Instead, she looked back down at her feet.
Elsa's brow furrowed as she straightened her posture, "I won't hurt you."
This time Anna did smile; an empty smile without mirth. "You already have."
Guilt washed openly over the taller woman's countenance. Silence. Then Elsa took a step closer to Anna, tongue darting across her lips nervously, opening her mouth as if to speak, then closing again. How could she possibly respond to that?
"Stay here until I fall asleep."
That was jarring. Elsa shook her head, trying to clear out the fog of confusion the statement brought on, "I'm sorry, what?"
"My whole world just changed," she sounded tired, distant, "I kind of hate you, but you're the only thing that seems vaguely familiar to me right now."
"Maybe it would be better if Kristoff-"
"Not Kristoff."
The blonde looked about the room uneasily while wringing her hands, unsure of how to respond to that either.
"You did this to me."
Rolling her jaw and closing her eyes as she drew a deep breath, Elsa clenched and unclenched her fists, "Yes. I did." Seconds ticked by before she concluded, "I will... stay."
The redhead didn't say another word. She simply switched out the lights and climbed into the bed, disappearing under the covers. A moment in the quiet, and Elsa stepped over to the foot of the bed, pressing her back against the wall and sliding to the floor. Anna was trying to hide it, but she knew under the sanctuary of the blankets, the girl was crying.
And Elsa felt like a monster.
With time both drifted into slumber. The blonde was granted a merciful three hours of rest before she awoke, head lulled against the wall, back stiff, to see the dim silhouette of Anna sitting rigidly upright on the mattress. The blonde's breath caught in her throat, reaching up to rub the sleep from her eyes. The room was eerily silent.
After several minutes of watching Anna stare wide-eyed at the wall, she opted to ask after her in a whisper, "Anna?"
No answer.
A little louder, "Anna?"
Elsa was about to move to get up when Anna abruptly turned her head to look at her, an extremely awkward pause grinding home what was about to occur. Anna's eyes flew open all the wider, she drew a deep breath, and screamed a shrill, horrified scream at the top of her lungs. Elsa immediately flinched and slapped her palms over her ears, jumping from her spot against the wall and rushing out the door, slamming it shut behind her.
She uncovered her ears only to see Kristoff galloping up the hall to see what the racket was, nearly bowling her over in the process, "What the fuck, Els!?" He covered his own ears. The scream stopped for a second, no doubt for Anna to inhale before unleashing another terrible shriek. "You can't leave her in there alone!" he shouted above the noise.
"Shit!" She hadn't even thought it through before making a break for it. The blonde spun on her heel and dashed back into the room as quickly as she had escaped.
"No, wait!" Kristoff tried to warn her not to just burst right back into the hot zone, but it was too late. On the other side of the door, he heard the sound of ceramics shattering. He sucked his teeth, "This is why we don't have nice things."
The moment the door closed, Elsa had to dodge the projectile (her lamp; her nice lamp) launched full-force by the frenzied Anna, who was shaking like a leaf in the corner of the room. Elsa couldn't know it, but Anna was seeing Elsa's bestial side as she had the night before rather than Elsa herself.
Keeping her knees bent in preparation to parry again, Elsa made sure to make her hands open and easily visible to the crazed girl. At first she didn't move, but when Anna turned to squeeze herself more tightly against the walls, the woman felt less threatened and more sympathetic. She was like a scared little child. "Anna. It's me. Elsa. I'm here to help you, remember?"
The girl shook her head as she pressed her face into the corner, hands covering her eyes as a sob wracked her frame.
Relaxing her posture a bit further, the blonde began to take slow, cautious steps toward the redhead, "It's okay. I-" she paused, unsure of what to say to set the girl at ease, "I'm here to protect you."
As Elsa drew near, Anna sank down to the floor and pulled her legs in close, trying to shrink, disappear from sight.
Another step.
"MONSTER." Tears streamed down Anna's cheeks as she took a quick and terrified look up at Elsa before covering her eyes again.
Elsa stopped, frozen. The first emotion to flash across her face was anger as she stood up straight and squared her shoulders, but it dissipated into despair.
"I'm," hurt, remorse, concern, "I'm not a monster. I'll... protect you from them."
Not a complete lie.
Still erring on the side of caution, the blonde closed the last few steps to the redhead and slowly knelt, extending a hand with great care to offer it to the girl. "You need rest, Anna."
Anna eyed the woman warily, though she seemed to look above and beyond, as if her spatial dimensions were larger. Elsa wasn't expecting to be knocked back onto her rear when the redhead lunged and gave her a smothering squeeze around her ribcage, face buried against her shoulder. Hysterical sobs wracked the girl and the blonde floundered; was it safe to let her do that? What did she want?
It was incredibly awkward to simply sit there with the redhead clinging to her. After a minute of letting her arms dangle limply with no sign of Anna relenting, she none-too-certainly set her hands on the girls back. When the reply was another squeeze that pressed the air from her chest, she gently patted the redhead, "You're alright. It's okay." Elsa wasn't used to providing platitudes, so she kept it simple.
Anna cried until she got the hiccups and up-chucked. Elsa managed to get her back into the bed, and waited until she was sleeping again to have Kristoff briefly trade places with her. It was on her way back in (with a fresh top) that he paused in the door to quietly request a moment to speak with her. The woman quickly peered into the room, checking that the redhead was still resting before nodding to him and stepping back out.
Kristoff pulled the door shut behind her. His voice was hushed, but severe, "The caern would disagree with this."
His cousin eyed him before setting her hands on her hips and tilting her head, arching a delicate eyebrow, "Do you?"
A hasty answer nearly slipped past his lips, but he managed to shut his mouth. Brown eyes glanced from the Elsa to the closed door, and back again, "I don't know, but that doesn't matter. Being accepted by the caern does matter to me, though."
"Then if it causes a problem, I'll take the heat. There's no way you can fight me on the issue, so if this is a mistake, it'll be my mistake."
Kristoff rolled his jaw, looking uncertain, "I don't want you to get kicked out and have to live as a rogue either."
"Don't be scared, Kristoff. Even on your own, you'll be fine. You don't need me to hold your hand, and taking the caern's side will prove your loyalty to them, even if you can't stop me. I'll make sure they know you opposed my decision."
The man frowned. He knew that she knew that wasn't what this was about. Life as a rogue monster was extremely difficult and often fatal. It was apparent that she was determined to dismiss that fact, however.
"Now, go get some rest. I'll need you to go care for Anna's stock this evening."
Kristoff sighed, rubbing an exhausted hand over his face and slumping tiredly, "Yeah, alright. Fine." He turned, and with one last glance over his shoulder, slagged back down the hall toward his room.
Once he was out of sight, Elsa faced the door and took a deep, cleansing breath. The next several days were going to be tough, but she was determined to see it through.