Elsa's heart was torn by Hans's words. If she chose to help her sister, Arendelle would be at the mercy of Hans. But if she chose to save her kingdom, Anna would die. What am I gonna do? thought Elsa. Anna sacrificed herself for me during the Eternal Winter. What would she do in this kind of situation?

Suddenly, Hans interrupted Elsa's thoughts with, "Make up your mind, Snow Queen. Time's running out for your sister... What'll it be?" Elsa looked over at Kristoff, whom Marshmallow had also placed on the ground. Both he and I love Anna more than anyone else in the world. Suddenly, an idea came into Elsa's head. She whispered it to Kristoff, who also liked the idea. Then Elsa turned to Hans and stated, "I accept your trade." Hans replied, "Good. I'll go see how close your sister already is to her final breath, then..." However, he was so focused on Elsa that he didn't notice Kristoff racing towards the castle.

Kristoff had only ever been inside the castle once or twice, so he didn't know his way around very well. He was just acting on instinct more than anything else. Kristoff knew that Hans had likely put Anna in with a bonfire or something, so he tried to find a hot area of the castle. Eventually, he came upon a room with a locked door that felt extremely hot. Thumping against the door, he could hear Anna's muffled cries from inside, almost smothered by the crackling of flames. Summoning all his strength, Kristoff pushed against the door until it fell over flat. He found himself looking into a spare room with fire everywhere. Just beyond the heart of the fire, Anna sat chained and in terror. When she and Kristoff made eye contact, Anna called, "Kristoff! You found me! Quick, get me out of these chains fast!"

Kristoff carefully made his way through the flames to Anna. He whispered, "Don't worry, Elsa's out there with the 'Fire Prince'; she'll be on her way as soon as she finds out what happened to Olaf and Olga," and started to utilize the heat to undo the chains. Anna sighed and started to reply, "Actually, about that..."

Suddenly, a voice neither of the two wanted to hear startled them with, "Well, well. What do we have here?" Kristoff turned around, his heart pounding.

Hans was standing in the doorway.

Elsa hurried through the dungeon, her ice shoes's click-clack echoing off the stone walls like a ticking clock, reminding her that she was running out of time. She mentally reviewed her goals: Find Olaf and Olga, meet up with Kristoff and Anna, somehow defeat Hans. Elsa thought that Hans had shut Olaf and Olga in a cell with fire - that seemed the most logical thing to have done with them. Since her powers kept her cold all the time, Elsa couldn't rely on heat to find the snowpeople; instead, she used light as a guide. And it was simple to find the orange light of Hans's fire in the dark dungeon. Soon, Elsa came across a door from which the most light was coming from. Fashioning a key from ice, she unlocked the door and slowly opened it, almost dreading what she was to find.

"Elsa!" The queen was greeted by the enthusiastic cry of her favorite snowman, seated in front of a small fire. Elsa's heart leaped at the sight, but she was surprised that he was the only occupant. "Where's Olga?" she asked.

Olaf looked a little nervous. "Oh," he said. "Olga... she and I had a run-in with Hans, and... she ended up joining forces with him."

This news came as an unpleasant surprise for Elsa. She was rendered speechless with shock. The one question she had to ask was, "Why?" Olaf softly replied, "She said she was feeling insecure." Elsa remembered that joy had not been the only emotion she had been feeling when Olga came to life. Could her doubts about herself and her powers have transferred to Olga and remanifested somehow?

Olaf hurriedly asked, "So, what are we gonna do about Hans?", pulling Elsa back into the present. She told him, "First, we need to meet up with Kristoff and Anna. And I think I know just how to get past any flames Hans might throw at us."

Kristoff was, for the first time in his life, terrified. And there had been many events during his life that would make anyone else scream. The avalanche his parents had died in when he was five - he'd been too young to feel terror. The wolf attacks - he'd kept his cool during those; no biggie. Almost falling into the gorge after being chased by the wolves with Anna - that was just surprise. Just before riding into the storm to find Anna - concern. What Kristoff was feeling now was pure terror.

Hans stepped closer to Kristoff and Anna. "I would have thought I'd provided sufficient defense," he said as the flickering flames reflected in his eyes. It was as if they were providing a window to his soul - full to the brim with anger and hatred. "I guess love does open doors after all, as the princess here knows well."

At these words, Anna's eyes flew open wide. Kristoff knew, from what she had told him, that Hans had used the imagery of an open door to win Anna over. Now he was bringing it back in order to rip open old wounds and further her torture. Kristoff could not let that happen. The beginnings of a plan to get himself and Anna out of there began to formulate in his mind as Hans moved closer and closer.

Hans spoke again. "I can't have you messing up my plans, reindeer herder. You'll have to be disposed of..." With an evil glint in his eye, a fireball began to form in the prince's hands. Kristoff knew he had to act fast. He knew that working magic indoors put him at a slight disadvantage, as natural magic worked best - well - in nature, but he had no other options. Concentrating on the limited earth energy that was in the castle, he created a vine that wrapped itself around Hans's foot just as the fireball was almost big enough to throw. Unable to step forward, Hans lost his footing and fell flat on his back. The fireball hit the roof, adding more heat to the room. While Hans was down, Kristoff finished freeing Anna, who asked, "What do we do now?"

Kristoff stated the best answer he could think of: "Run."

Elsa tried to concentrate on finding Kristoff and Anna while keeping her ice dome up. It had seemed like a good idea at the time - fire couldn't breach the security of the dome, and Elsa could make it roomier if necessary. Trouble was, it was difficult to run and keep up the dome. At least Olaf was making them stop every once in a while so he could catch his breath.

Suddenly, in rushed Kristoff and Anna, flushed and scared. Elsa made a small opening in the dome so they both could scramble in, quickly closed it, and asked, "What happened? You both look so tired."

Anna replied, "Let's just say Hans happened." As if cued in a play, in ran Hans himself, wildly searching around with a fireball in each hand, followed by a slightly worried Olga. Elsa caught a quick glimpse of his eyes and saw an almost animal-like savageness, heightened by the reflections of the flames he carried. When the prince caught sight of the dome, he raced towards it at full speed, launching his fireballs. They exploded harmlessly against the strong ice. Hans was clearly furious.

"You tricked me!" shouted the prince. "This is your fault! This whole mess is your fault!" Elsa tried to keep her cool as Hans monologued about how he'd been wronged his whole life and the queen and princess had made it worse for him. She did notice that Anna had a sly look on her face, as if she knew something none of the rest did. Finally, she interrupted Hans mid-sentence, "None of what you've said is true at all! And I happen to know that... because I have THESE!", whipping out a pair of leather-bound books, each with an autumn leaf on the cover.

Hans was clearly unpleasantly surprised. Anna continued, "Yes, the childhood journals of you and your brother Eric. One of the trolls gave them to me when we stopped near the Valley of the Living Rocks. You wouldn't mind if I read a few entries, would you?"

Hans growled, "Yes, I would mind," but Anna didn't listen. She opened one of the books, loudly cleared her throat, and began to read. "Dear Journal..."

Next chapter: The secrets of Hans's youth revealed!