AN: A message for the guest whose really really sweet review was in Spanish: Muchas gracias. Tu opinión es apreciado y es muy agradable ver que tengo lectores de todo el mundo. Te doy todo mi amor. Mi español es muy malo, y me disculpo por eso. Estoy haciendo mi mejor esfuerzo para decirles lo agradecida que estoy de haber revisado, incluso con la barrera del idioma entre nosotros.
Um, for the rest of you, the story is just about finished in this chapter. All that's left to be published is an epilogue that will warm even the iciest of hearts. Thanks, all of you, for reading this and leaving all those kind reviews. I love you guys, my fans, I really do. This chapter actually took so long because a lot of things came up, like family emergencies, and I'm finally able to get some time to put it up for your enjoyment. Thank you, guys, for everything, I really do mean it. This is the first fic I've actually finished since '09, so it's a little emotional for me. I love you all, every single one of my reviewers, and I really hope you like the end of this fic. Notes at the bottom of the page.

Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Frozen, and I did not work on Frozen. I have never and do not work for Disney in any way, shape or form. This is a not for profit fanwork. Thank you for reading.


Hans knew something was wrong as soon as he went into the throne room.

He stopped short in the doorway, staring at his mother who wore a gauzy mourning gown and had a vast army of the castle guards about her. Now he knew where they all had gone. He knew Jekaterina was powerful, but this was impossible to foretell and defend against. She had captured the castle from the inside out.

All of the guards looked as if they had tar or something smeared across their now yellow eyes and mouths. It seemed to be dribbling from their ears too.

"Mother."

"Surprised to see me?" Jekaterina's lips spread like a predatory cat's, as she reclined on Elsa's throne.

"So it was you who froze Arendelle over again?"

"It was funny to see you automatically blame your wife, as if she was the only one powerful enough to do any of this." The Dowager tipped the gilded goblet to her lips delicately. "Do you know how guilty she feels for hurting her sister?"

"Why are you doing this?" Hans demanded, his voice more hysterical than he would have liked it at the mention of Elsa.

"Why?" She laughed, and the tainted guards all laughed with her in a cacophonous echo. It was a maddening sound and Hans covered his ears with his hands to block it out. The mirth was gone almost as fast as it had appeared, leaving behind an almost serene expression. "Seize him."

He unsheathed his sword, ready to fight them off but there were too many. He cut down one in a puff of smoke billowing upward and ten more took the guard's place. He was surrounded easily. They overtook him in a rush and soon he felt he couldn't breathe, the air around him was oppressive as he was overwhelmed by shadows thrown across him from the guards. The cold sunlight streaming in through the windows gave him no comfort as Hans was dragged to the dungeons, still struggling to breathe.


Elsa knew something was wrong when she heard the sound of fighting travel through the empty halls, rousing her from a dreamless sleep.

She got out of bed as fast as she could, and threw a dressing gown over her shoulders, tying it tight around her midsection. Fearing the worst, she hurried down the hall and stopped in the middle of the doorway, shocked and appalled.

"So the queen decided to join us." Jekaterina called out to her, voice over the top saccharine.

"Where's Hans? What did you do to him?"

Jekaterina only flashed her ruby inlaid incisor in a vicious grin in lieu of an answer, since she'd know soon enough.

She heard loud stomping down the hall behind her, and the tall blonde, Meinhard rushed in beside her at the ready to defend.

"So the savage decided to join our little get together." Jekaterina cooed, leaning forward and flashing a glimpse of her cleavage, skin a sickly blue gray like a rotting corpse's.

"You disgust me." He spat.

"Guards, seize the Queen." She said coldly, "And cut down this fiend where he stands."

Meinhard pulled a sword Elsa swore she had seen once before in a painting long ago out of the scabbard hanging from his hip, brandishing it to protect Elsa. "Just you try your best."

The guard's grip felt heavy and somehow unclean when they touched Elsa's skin. She shrugged them off as best she could, but one of them must have had a club or something because seconds later, she saw stars and then nothing.


Elsa awoke in a comfortable bed in a pitch black room, one that was familiar. The first thing she realized was that she was alone in the bed. The second thing was that she felt eyes on her.

"Do you know how precious you are to your husband?" The Dowager's voice rang out from nowhere in particular. Elsa was having trouble pinpointing the exact spot it was originating from until Jekaterina loomed closer to the bed.

She bit back a cry and almost fell backwards off the bed.

"Do you, child?" She stroked Elsa's cheek with a jagged fingernail. "He forsook his own country, just to get to you."

She turned away, disgusted when she realized the Dowager's nails were caked with dried gore.

"He could have ruled by my side over Arendelle and the Southern Isles after relieving himself of your company. I am still beautiful enough to keep his attention, am I not?"

When Elsa didn't answer, Jekaterina slapped her hard. Red scratches marked her face. They were definitely not as deep as Hans' scars and would pass soon enough, but for now it still hurt.

It was more of wounded pride and fear than actual pain that forced Elsa's hand. She hit the Dowager back, a swift punch to the mouth that was reinforced by some icy brass knuckles that had encrusted themselves on her fist in a split second of unrestrained anger. Her lips didn't bleed, despite the obvious tearing and damage done by the huge pointy crystals sprouting from Elsa's knuckles.

For a beat there was only eerie silence as the knowledge of what Elsa had just done sunk in. Then Jekaterina seemed to swell in rage, aiming to claw at Elsa's face. "You dare strike me?"

Some dam within the Queen broke and a burning anger rose within her, and she fought her off. "I should be saying the same to you! You horrid shrewish Jocasta! You offer your son to marry me under the pretense of an apology and he begins to actually care and you get jealous?!" She stood taller, rounding on the Dowager. A chilling wind began to blow in the enclosed space, whipping at Elsa's hair and both their skirts. However, the Queen stood strong despite, or perhaps, because of, it. If anything Jekaterina was being blown about by the stinging tornadic gust. "How dare you use him like a pawn just to use me too!"

"Did you allow your mind to be clouded by your emotions, child? Is that why your feeble attempts to rebuke me have come to this?" Jekaterina's eyes were blazing with an unholy madness. She waved her hand in a drunken chopping motion, leaning in and taking a threatening step forward.

A brittle pain seared up Elsa's chest. The queen collapsed, grasping at her bosom as if to stop it. Jekaterina leered over her, and Elsa held up her hands to fend her off, struggling against the torrential agony coursing through her heart. "This is what love feels like."

Elsa cried out. White hot tears pricked at her eyes and she shook her head. "Th-that's not love..."

The burning pain grew as Jekaterina pressed closer. Her nails had lengthened through supernatural means. Elsa was near powerless against her, but she did have one last resource. Opening her mouth to scream for her sister, Elsa could barely get the words out. They died in her throat, scorching hot air roasting her lungs and making it impossible for her to speak.

"Cat got your tongue?" The dowager held Elsa's chin in the palm of her hand, keeping her gaze almost lovingly.

The inside of Elsa's mouth felt dry, and the anguished burning spread throughout her body. The Queen's protective hands flew to her stomach, where the baby was shifting wildly in response to its mother's pain.

Shutting her eyes tight, Elsa was relieved when the heat stopped spreading about her midsection, as if the presence of her child was negating it. The immense burning soon began to dissipate, the cool relief emanating from the child inside her. Elsa opened her eyes back up again, carefully.

"You underestimated me." She managed to choke out, voice still not loud enough to call for help.

"Did I?" Jekaterina asked, coquettish in the way she put her finger to the corner of her mouth, pausing in mocking thought. "Perhaps I should tear the bastard from your belly and crush him underfoot so he doesn't interfere."

"You wouldn't dare." Elsa hostilely bared her teeth like some kind of animal when the Dowager ran her razor sharp fingernails down her dress to her stomach, choking out her words as they stuck in her throat.

"Wouldn't I?" Her nails cut through the fabric of her dressing gown and the shift beneath as if it were nothing. She barely nicked the skin, but Elsa inhaled sharply, wheeling away from her touch.

The wind began to pick up again, howling and rattling the windows. The sound was sure to have woken Anna or Kristoff up, but there was no sign they stirred at all. It was a troubling thought that occurred to Elsa. She better not have hurt Anna. The Queen didn't know this, but Jekaterina had bewitched Anna and Kristoff to sleep forever, or until the spell wore off, which would only be after she died.


Meinhard had, in fact, somehow luckily managed to escape certain death, blindly swinging his long sword at the guards that dripped liquid shadows and darting down the stairs to the dungeon where he assumed they'd taken his half brother. The guards didn't follow. Presumably they were put off by the cold of the lichen covered walls, or it could have been the way the staircase spiraled into pure darkness. Either way, Meinhard had a pilfered lantern to guide his footsteps.

Hans must have seen the light, or heard Meinhard curse as he almost took a tumble down the last three uneven stairs, because there was a shout from one of the cells and then a rattling of chains from within.

The mountain man turned to the door, and tried it, finding it locked. The lock itself was old and looked rusted. He could probably break through it if he tried.

"I'm sick of this damned place." Hans bemoaned through the bars in the tiny window on the door, rattling the chains securing his wrists to the walls.

"Hold on a moment." Meinhard set down the lantern and began to attempt to kick the door down. In three tries it gave way easily. The wood had rotted near completely through in the middle.

Hans couldn't even stand up, such was the length of the chains holding him to the walls. He was seated uncomfortably on the freezing ground. "I'd prefer it if you could get me out of these."

He looked the shackles over, before whacking at them with the flat side of his sword. Sparks flew and one of the shackles just fell apart like rice paper. "Easy as that."

Hans stared at him. "I've been tugging at these all day. You couldn't possibly have just done that in one go."

"I carry ice as heavy as you are for a living, little brother, if you've forgotten."

That shut him up right quick. "Just do the other arm please. Before I lose some more appendages. I'm rather attached to these."

"No promises." He grunted, swinging his sword at full strength, narrowly missing Hans' wrist. The other shackle split like butter.

The prince yelped and jerked away, pulling out of the destroyed chains.

"There you are, brother. Good as new."

Hans was rubbing his wrists where the fetters had cut into the tender skin. "Where did you get that sword anyway? It looks ancient."

Meinhard looked down at the sword with an absurd sense of pride, it's kitschy pommel inlaid with lapis lazuli. "Borrowed this little bastard from your wife's family mausoleum. Had Niklaus bless it too."

Hans gawped at his brother. "You.. What."

"Nothing like the weapons of the dead to defeat something that can't die."

He shook his head. "You are absolutely insane."

"I just rescued you from a frigid death sentence. Act more grateful."

Hans sneered at him while he wasn't looking, sticking his tongue out like a child.

"How about I chop your most important appendage off next, brother?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

He swung at Hans' head, narrowly missing by a hair.

The prince must have guessed he would have attempted to hit something else because he lifted his knee to protect his groin. "Remind me again why I'm trusting you." He grit out through his tightly clenched teeth.

"Looks like you think more with the head between your legs, little brother." Meinhard laughed.

Hans shoved him, minding the blade held between them.

"Do you think I'd let my baby brother rot in some cell while his bitch mother tries to murder his beautiful wife?"

"What did you just say?" The blood drained from his face. "She's going to what—"

"Calm yourself. Elsa can handle it."

"She's pregnant, you bastard! I'm not a coward like you. I need to help her!"

"Oh now that is rich, baby brother." Meinhard had sheathed the sword on his back. "Darja was no Elsa."

Hans stared at him for a long moment, completely silent.

"While you're dawdling with me, your whore of a mother could be gutting your bride as we speak." Meinhard mussed his hair as he walked past him out of the dungeons and back up those precarious stairs.

Hans followed after, anxious to be out of the dungeon, grabbing the lantern.


The castle seemed to be deserted. Even the guards which populated it only a few minutes before seemed to vanish.

While the men were left wondering where everyone had vanished to, a piercing scream echoed through the castle. It was most definitely not a human cry, and it sent a shock wave through the both of them. Broken glass exploded through the air as the windows shattered around them. They were pelted with it.

Hans cried out softly when a large piece of glass sent careening toward him cut a long slit down his face across one eye, severing right through the three gouges scarred into his face. He pressed both hands to his eye, as blood began streaming out of the gash.

Meinhard stopped in front of him, tearing a piece of cloth from the prince's simple cotton shirt.

"Move your hands, let me see." He spoke tenderly, like a parent, and hm-ed quietly at the damage, before tying the makeshift bandage over his eye. "This should stop the bleeding."

Hans touched the wrapping gingerly with his fingertips.

"You'll be fine. Let's go rescue your queen."

They peered out the window, and smoke was filling the sky. "They're on the roof." Hans muttered.

"Let's go then, or is your lack of depth perception going to be a liability?"

"Shut up." Hans hissed, wedging his way out of the window and climbing up the shingles, Meinhard following close behind him. It was difficult and he almost lost his grip twice because of the swirling winds buffeting the castle. He could see Elsa at the top of the roof, but Jekaterina was nowhere to be found.

But then he saw it. A great crimson scaled beast with smoke billowing from it's snout. A forked tongue flicked at the air and it turned its burning gray eye toward Hans, moving independently from its head. He very nearly fell back off of the building in horror.

"Elsa!" Hans yelled to his bride. She was fending off the monstrous scaled abomination with a sword made solely of an icicle. Her dress was torn, and she looked as if she was crying but she stood her ground.

Elsa was positioned, balanced, her back against a steeple. Her hair had come free of its braid and it was whipping about her face in the gale. Meinhard was right. She was more than capable of holding her own.

"Leave her alone!" Hans ran at the dragon to distract it as soon as he gained good footing on the roof.

"I don't think so." Jekaterina's voice was booming as it issued forth from the massive lizard's mouth. She lifted a great claw and pinned Hans down with it, pressing on him with the intention to crush and suffocate him.

Both Elsa and Meinhard ran forward at once to protect Hans. The mountain man was knocked to the side by her tail, scrabbling at the roof with his fingers, knocking some shingles free to drop the entire height of the castle and shatter on the streets below, a plume of steam pouring from the dragon's nostrils. Elsa was more lucky. Her blows landed; the ice punctured her scales and scalding steam burst forth, causing Elsa to pull back and almost lose her footing as well. She caught herself, but not before Hans screamed her name, afraid she would plummet to the cobblestones below.

"Elsa, if I die, tell everyone of what my mother did! Tell them about my brothers. And my father! Tell them!"

"Yes, I did it! I'll admit it! I killed your brothers! All of them! They were so beautiful when they drowned in the emerald depths.."The Dowager beast called madly, her laughter sounding like coughs.

"You bitch! You monster!" Meinhard meant to run at her in a fury, but he couldn't without losing his footing, screaming into the wind.

Jekaterina must have intended for him to fall to his doom because she was enraged to see the mountain man still standing. She took it out on Hans, however, and he cried out from the pressure about to snap his ribs. "Diederik too. He was dead before he ever hit the water. His blood was so warm and delicious. I was hoping you would be the same when I seduced you the way I took Diederik, my darling son."

"You filthy bitch!" Meinhard ran at her, furious. He attacked her claws with the sword. "He was my twin!"

Jekaterina fixed him with an emotionless look out of her lidless eyes, her voice a snarl. "Meinhard. The prodigal son returns."

She gave him a demonic smile and released Hans to try to snatch up the mountain man instead. He dove and weaved around her legs, helping his half brother up in the process.

The Dowager blew fire at them, greasy unclean flames catching on the rooftop around them. If anything the wind only made them reach higher.
Soot was searing the air, and Hans was sweating as he dodged the flames, feeling like he could barely breathe, the wind knocked out of him, rushing to Elsa.

She grabbed at him with both hands. "What happened to your face?!"

"That can wait. I'm alright. Let's focus on getting rid of this monster." He covered her hand with one of his own, before releasing her, glad of the little respite as his brother fought the dragon that once was his mother.

"And here I thought you were dead!" Jekaterina was taunting Meinhard. "Perhaps I could send you back to your precious whore and your little bastard."

"You have no right to even talk of her!" Meinhard spat blood, and the dragon blew more fire his direction. He dodged it, barely.

Almost sliding off the edge of the roof, Meinhard dangled. Hans released Elsa's arms and ran to his brother's aid. Pulling him up, he looked to the sword still in his hand. "Let's do this. Together."

Jekaterina had turned her attention to Elsa, approaching her with the intent to roast her alive. "And you, little slattern. You stole him from me!"

Elsa swung at the dragon's snout with the jagged edge of her icicle blade. It didn't seem to do much damage, except for where it had cut shallowly into the soft unprotected flesh of Jekaterina's face, black goop leaking from her wounds, and looking like running make up.

Meinhard and Hans crept beneath the dragon's pale underside, to where they were sure her heart must have been. It was protected by rubies inlaid deep into her scaly skin.

"We can get through it if we work together."

Hans gripped the handle with both hands, and so did Meinhard. "Ready, brother?"

"Ready!"

In one concentrated effort, they pierced the largest the crystal they could see her blackened heart as the ruby shattered into many little pieces.

Jekaterina shrieked and seemed to deflate rapidly. Instead of blood, a tarry substance was leaking from where the ruby had cracked open.

Whatever soul she had was lost to the darkness that had consumed her in exchange for her unholy powers, and the Light had faded from her eyes.

Hans released the sword as soon as the burning black muck began to splatter their hands and it clattered off the roof and sailed through the air until it hit the ground below.

The wind began to die down as he made his way to Elsa, who was still clutching her icicle dagger. He pulled her tight against him. She was trembling. The dagger melted in her hand and she clawed at his shoulders, still in shock.

"Looks like I owe you again for saving my life."

"I think it's evened out by now." She finally managed to say, teeth chattering as she shook, before she kissed him carefully.

Meinhard was breathing fast. "Sorry to interrupt the celebration, but we should go back inside before we fall off the roof and die."

"So cheerful, my brother." Hans teased, looking to Meinhard. The mountain man made a movement as if to shove him but pulled back at the last second, in retaliation.

Anna was waiting for them, having awoken as if from a long restful nap. She yawned. "What happened? You guys look like you were just in a battle."

Elsa couldn't help but start to laugh, the relief too much to hold inside.

Hans squeezed her hand, and that was when she really knew she could do this marriage thing, and this family thing. She squeezed back, and he lifted her fingers to his lips, closing the one eye uncovered. A warm feeling rose in her chest, and she smiled at him. That was when Hans knew it was all worth it.

The End


Notes:

Jocasta was Oedipus' wife and mother. From Oedipus Rex, or Oedipus The King in Latin, by Sophocles.