Chapter 6

Scorched Heart

Jack pov

*During the ball

By the time I got to Arendelle it was night time. I supposed I could have gotten here faster but I'm nervous. The town itself seemed to be silent. The castle on the other hand wasn't. Running from rooftop to rooftop I made it to the top of the castle walls. It appears they are having a ball. From the crowd of voices I heard a laugh. "I recognize that laugh" I zipped over the crowds, trying to avoid the beverages going around so I don't freeze them. Hovering over them "Is that Anna?" I looked this person who I once knew and man, did she grow up. What happened to that streak of white in her hair?

"Ah Princess Anna this must be your husband Kristoff I've heard so much about." A nobleman said.

"Wait a minute that's your husband?" I looked at this guy and if I had to guess he was not comfortable being here. I doubt he's one of these stuffy noblemen. Anna was a princess; she had her choice of men far and wide. Out of all of them she chose this guy? Oh well it's not my business. Besides she seems happy with him.

Now, where is Elsa? I zipped all over the crowds trying to find her. Granted I haven't been around for a few years so she would look different from what I remembered her but Elsa was unique. I would know who she is, but I don't see her anywhere. Maybe she's somewhere in the castle I thought. I zipped through the castle halls seemingly looking everywhere for. Then I saw something, platinum hair that shined in the light. I found Elsa walking out on to a balcony. I floated onto the ground and walked up behind her. I cleared my throat to get her attention but she did not hear me.

"Your majesty" I said

"Elsa" I said as I raised my arm to grab her shoulder….and my hand went through her.

I should have known better then to get my hopes up. Of all the things I just had to…is she wearing a dress made out of ice? I looked closer at her dress and it was indeed made out of ice. I've flown all over the world and I have never heard of anyone who made a line of clothing out of ice (I don't even know if I could do that). Besides after everything that happened she didn't want anything to do with ice. She was more afraid of her powers than her own parents last time I checked. Unless….

I needed to find out. Did she truly accept herself and her powers? To test this I conjured up a little snow that fell around her. With her back to me she said "I must be more nervous than I thought." With a wave of her hands a wind blew away the snow that was around her. I was floored. "You used your powers Elsa" I whispered. She wasn't afraid of her powers; she use to hate how everything iced over when she got near. Now everything was different. She didn't conceal it anymore.

"You're not afraid anymore snowflake." I smiled. She got through this by herself. She was able to turn her life around.

"Nervous are we?"

Elsa quickly turned around and...whoa. I've known Elsa when she was a kid, she was cute. Now though I was finding myself have trouble to find the right words to describe her now. "Who are you?" Elsa demanded. I stood to the side and watched the conversation that occurred between the two. Elsa didn't need some back alley voodoo miracle cure for her powers. She was fine on her own. That dress of hers was proof of that.

After all that has happened between them I stood on a roof top of one of the houses near the castle and watched the people enjoy themselves. They laughed, danced and talked. They would likely do this throughout the night. Normally I would be more than happy to see people having fun. Laughing along with them at the bad jokes that were told, but today I felt hollow. I was happy to see that Elsa had gotten on with her life but it still hurts that I am not a part of it.

The wind picked up around me. "Wind, leave me alone." A breeze came up and blew through my hair. "I came all this way hoping that she believed again and…*SIGH*. Nothing changed. I'm happy for her, but I'm still invisible to her. It seems I'm not allowed a second chance." The wind blew in my face making me take a step back.

"What? What is it" The wind told me;

"Everyone know the plan right"

"Um…right"

"Alright then Reg, what is going to happen?"

"We storm the palace and capture the nobles"

"And?"

"And uh….we eat cake? OW! Why did you hit me?"

"No you idiot! After we capture them, we kill the queen"

"But how do we do that, she's a witch"

"That may be true but Prince Than made sure to get her to wear the arm band. She thinks that it is controlling her power. All it is doing is restraining it slowly. By the time we get there won't be any magic for her to use. Without it she can't fight back."

"Can't she just take it off?"

"No, the shaman didn't make it that easy to remove it."

The emptiness that dominated me was exchanged for anger. The witch insult was more than enough to warrant me to shove my staff down his throat. A lot of people could get hurt, but everyone is focused on the castle. They have no idea what was coming this way, not like I can tell them they are coming anyway. I might as well scream at a brick way. Something had to be done about this.

I said menacingly "Well then, let's have a little fun."

Soldier pov

I don't mind being a soldier. It's great, you get holidays, some benefits, and you even get your own uniform (well armor technically). I was merely hoping for a guard position, not marching through a foreign country's streets on our way to overthrow a kingdom with an army. I would probably be in my nice cushy home instead of here. I don't get why we are here anyway. Arendelle is our ally, what do we have against them. Try asking that to your superior, they scream in your face "Because you're a soldier and soldiers follow orders!" Probably some political scheme, I heard from some of the guys this whole thing is because of Prince Seth.

"Sergeant how far are we from the castle." I asked the sergeant to my left. "Not long now. We are in the merchant's district." He replied

Then a bright light blinded me and the next thing I knew everything around us was covered in ice. Sadly the momentum was still with us and many of us slipped on the ice and fell to the ground. To any onlookers it must have seem amusing to see this many soldiers slip and fall. Sadly I was one of them. Tumbling to the ground I hit my head on the ice. We got up from the ground (many of us groaning I might add), luckily our falls broke the thin ice we slipped on. A soldier near me suddenly got hit by something. "What was that?" he said. Another replied "Uh, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were hit with a snow ball"

As soon as he said that everyone started to get a snow ball. I got mine right in the face. Our commander yelled "Soldiers raise shields! Tortoise formation!" We did as we were told and raised our shields. Tortoise formation is literally positioning our shields so that we look like one. Everyone on the outside has theirs vertically, while everyone else is protecting their heads. Not that it is helping though. The number of snow balls increased, getting through any holes between the shields. It was if it was raining snow balls, it made our progress pretty much stop. I knew it was a bad idea to be near the front line I thought as my shoulder got hit. The soldier next to me said "Well this isn't so bad. A little snow never killed anyone" Next thing I know he got knocked off his feet because he got hit in the face by a snow ball.

Well at least I wasn't the only one to get it in the face.

Our sergeant yelled "Get back in formation!" I lifted him back onto his feet. "Hey you are going to be…." I looked at him. His nose was broken and his cheek was bleeding. I looked at the snow ball that hit him. It wasn't a snow ball; it was an ice ball (a bloody one thanks to that hit). Then the amount of snow that are now ice balls became heavy rain. Our winter drills haven't prepared for something like this. Hail sure, snow fall no problem, blizzard a piece of cake. Ice balls that can take down a grown man raining down on us as if we were in a massive snow ball fight (and it felt like we were on the losing side) BIG problem. I heard the sergeant curse "Where is that accursed shaman when we need him?!"

From the front I heard our commander yell "Is that all you got?! A few snow balls!"

Like a miracle the balls stop coming. Taking in a deep breath I turned to the sergeant "I don't understand. I thought the Snow Queen was powerless now." He replied "Well obviously the contact lied to us. She seems to be just fine." He yelled up to the front "Commander, are we clear to proceed?" The commander broke formation and took few steps ahead of us and looked around. From what I could see only the road was a little icy a head of us with a little frost on the buildings. With his back to us he said "I think we'll be ok now sergeant"

Suddenly I saw a bright light and something flew at the commander. In silence we waited to see him move. He turned slightly and I saw it. An icicle, normally an icicle isn't much of a concern. An icicle that is thick as a post and just pierced a shield thicker than your armor is a defiantly a problem! The sergeant whispered "That was lucky. If it was longer and it would have stabbed him."

Once we a saw what happened to the commander. It was starting getting cold, really cold. I looked at the buildings, they were now icing over. What was even more concerning was that the ice spread between the buildings and blocked off the connected streets (or exits as I saw them). The sergeant said "We're being trapped like rats." He yelled back "What's it look like down there? Are the buildings freezing over?" A soldier replied "Yes sir, it goes on like that as far as I can see buts it's only happening to the connected streets. The entire street we are on is clear of ice. It seems we have a route to go back on."

After he said that we heard it, a head of us a giant icicle appeared out of the ground blocking our way forward. It towered above the buildings, undoubtedly being seen by those of the castle (those that paid the outside world any heed that is) "I guess she's telling us to leave." I whispered. The large icicle then sprouted more spikes along its side making it look daunting to say the least. Sergeant stated "Oh this isn't good." Then the bloody pillar started moving towards us. Fast, very fast. "Defiantly not good!" He ended. The commander ordered "Fall back!" Now we are running from a giant spike covered pillar, never thought I'd say that.

The spikes of the icicle were scraping the sides of the building. There was no room for us to pass by it. That thing gets close to us we're dead. We ran down the street hoping that we didn't get hit by that thing. We ran beyond the edge of the village which is where the pillar stopped fortunately. The commander stated "Form your ranks. We have to get back inside to fulfil our mission" The soldiers on the other hand replied with this to say.

"Like hell! I heard about what happened last year. I'm not getting into that."

"Yeah, that contact lied to us. We can't survive that witch's power."

"Where is that shaman anyway? This is right up his alley."

"You pack of cowards! It's just a little ice." The commander yelled. When he said that, a spike dropped right beside him making us all jump. We all looked up to the sky and it was now raining icicles. Big mean looking ones too. Oh what I would do to be back with the snow balls. "I take it back. RETREAT!" The commander yelled. There was no organization or formation now, we just ran far from Arendelle and its Snow Queen. Mostly from the icicles that seemed to follow us. We didn't have much choice if we didn't want to get impaled.

I should have just listened to mom and became a tailor. I thought putting as much space between me and Arendelle.

Hans pov

"What on earth happened here?" I said. Everywhere I looked there was ice on the buildings. We were originally heading towards the castle. Until we saw that giant icicle, moving I might add. "What do you think happened here?" Nolan asked. "It seems Elsa is not so powerless after all. It looks like she dealt with Seth's men on her own and went back to the ball." I stated.

Nolan stated "We can't take the castle with just our men. We needed Seth's men."

"I know!"

"Well what about Seraphina? We needed her in the first place because she's like Elsa."

"Yeah I don't get why I just can't go in there and do things myself" Seraphina proclaimed as she walked towards us. "You can go in there, but you wouldn't be doing the plan. We were trying to capture the nobles of the other kingdoms and hold them hostage. With them we could have gotten them to submit to us. Not burn them to a crisp. You're power over fire is too wild and unpredictable." Hans explained.

Hans continued "Well this endeavor might as well not be a total waste. We can't get the nobles, Elsa on the other hand we can. Go to plan B."

Seraphina murmured "This should have been Plan A in the first place."

Seraphina conjured a fireball in the palms of her hands. She asked "How much of the town should I set on fire to draw her out?"

Hans answered "Surprise me."

Elsa pov

After I had received my gift from Prince Than I mentally prepared myself to go up there and do it. Just as soon as I was ready to make the speech. A guard and a security guild member came up to me "Your majesty, there is a fire in the town." I walked past him and made my way through the castle gates with them behind me. Once I was outside I was able to see flames rise up from some of the buildings and faintly saw smoke rising into the sky. Though I wouldn't admit it out loud, I was glad I had a valid reason to avoid the speech.

"Gather the other guards" I stated. "Your majesty" The security guild member said "It would be better if the Security Guild assisted you in this. Even though the guards will help we must take the guests serious too. Their duty is to protect them; it would not look good on Arendelle if they abandoned them. Our members can move now. Those buildings could be our homes burning your majesty."

I nodded in agreement and the guard returned to the castle. With the men with the security guild with me, we went into town to put out the fire. When we first got into town the members went into a nearby supply store to get buckets, while I went to one of the buildings on fire and raised my hands and shot them towards the building. Nothing came. I tried again, but nothing happened

"I don't understand, my powers aren't working"

"We had a feeling about that Queen Elsa"

I turned to see the some guild members not holding buckets, but ropes. Before I could react they seized my arms and tied me up. I struggled as much as I could but there were too many of them. "Where are the others?" one stated.

"Here they come"

I watched them walk towards us and… "No" I whispered. Anna and Kristoff were with them. What were they doing here?! They were supposed to be in the castle, they would have been safe there. "How'd you get those two?" their head stated

"They followed us. It seems you weren't as persuasive as you were with the queen."

"Bring them with us. We'll get a bonus for them."

They put the three of us together and marched us. To god knows where.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered to Anna. "We were worried. Jacob came to us saying that the Security Guild members were acting strangely. He spied on one of them and overheard the guild members saying that they had to move on the queen, that the next stage of the plan was being put in motion. By the time he got to us you left with the members."

Kristoff continued "The guard that noticed the fire came up to us and told us what he told you. We had a couple of the guards nearby come with us. When we went into town and the members ambushed us. They quickly took out the guards. Can't you break us out of this?"

"I can't. My powers aren't working."

"That's probably a part of their plan too." He said somberly.

We were dragged down a street. A…..ice covered street? How was this possible? Anna looked at me with questioning eyes. I shook my head at her. I never did this. Everywhere I looked there was ice on the buildings and….was that a giant icicle in the distance? We were dragged to a large group that was standing in the street.

"Well good to see something went to plan" I heard. From the crowd walked….no, not him. "Hans" I said as me, Anna and Kristoff were dragged before him. He greeted "Well good evening you majesty"

"What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be locked up!" Anna demanded

"Believed that little lie did we? You see Anna the thing is my father did not punish me, he praised me. He said that he finally had a proper son. A son that was ambitious enough to acquire much more than just the throne. So for this past year instead of enjoying myself like you three, I've been working hard. Thanks to father I will soon have enough men and resources to take what is mine"

"Arendelle will never be yours, Hans" I proclaimed

"1) Seeing as how you three have been captured by my soldiers it will make things very easy for me. To answer your question of why your powers aren't working it's because of that armband that Than gave you. You didn't really think it would control your powers did you?" I glared a Hans cursing my foolishness. I wanted it so badly to be real that I was willing to believe anything. No wonder he seemed so persistent. "2) I'm not aiming for just Arendelle anymore. It's a mere stepping stone to what my father is planning. We are going to take much more than Arendelle, but you won't be around to see that. Guild members separate them." Hans ended.

Anna and Kristoff were dragged away from me and I was forced to my knees. I looked up to Hans and gave him the most hate filled glare I could muster. As I looked at him Hans drew his sword and raised it above my head. "Now, let's try this again." He said. Anna screamed"NO, ELSA!"

I hate cliff hangers as much as the next guy but I couldn't resist myself. My apologies for being late on this chapter but I didn't like how it originally went. So I rewrote it and changed things.

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