Author's Note: Yuck, this ended up taking me so much longer to write than I originally intended. Sorry for the huge delay to update! Hopefully I won't run into this problem for the next chapter.

In Denial

Hans knew he would regret it later. He knew it was likely a terrible idea to visit Elias in his cell when he was still upset about the murder attempt. He knew that doing so behind everyone's back, sneaking around unseen in the dungeons in the middle of the night in a dance with guards whose rounds he mapped out and timed, risking everyone's misplaced trust in him should he get caught; what he was doing was clearly crossing the line of "things good people with sound judgment shouldn't do."

There wasn't any going back on his ill-conceived plan once it was in action, especially since he had to knock out Sir George as a part of that plan. Had he been residing in his living arrangements in his room in the servant's wing, knocking out the guard wouldn't have been a factor. But taking into account the fact that his room still was a mess of blood and splintered wood, and the fact that Queen Elsa was intensely and needlessly worried for his well-being, he had to temporarily inhabit another chamber with a guard detail. It was just poor luck that George was the one to be on shift that night.

Hans didn't want to think too much about feeling guilty at the moment, since he was mad, and hurt, and all-around miserable about having to deny his feelings for Elsa and having to choose his curse over her.

From what the others told him, Elias knew something and was reluctant to give the information to them. They were going to try again after Anna's and Kristoff's wedding day – was it really going to be tomorrow? – but he was going a bit stir-crazy with being unable to commune with the queen as often as his lovesick heart begged him to.

So yes, while it wasn't a practical decision to take it upon himself to… "interrogate" Elias in Hans' current state – angry, heartbroken, stressed, the land constantly chanting about sacrifice in his head – but he needed to feel less useless and maybe confronting his older brother would help. After all, he was Prince Hans, the man who was able to fool an entire kingdom for his own gain until it was almost too late for them. Getting information from Elias shouldn't be so hard, right?

Well, it was either confront the eleventh-born, or practice his violin piece for the wedding. He'd done the latter zealously enough over the past few days that he was even having dreams about practicing the same tune over and over, which he grew tired of quite quickly. Also, the blisters he was forming from all the playing were growing rather painful. So, interrogate Elias it was.

He wasn't sure how he should've reacted when he discovered that Elias appeared to be waiting for him. Showing a brief look of surprise before squashing the expression into neutrality, but failing to keep his brief lack of composure hidden from Elias and giving him a reason to have a smug look, was probably not the appropriate way to go about it.

"Of course you'd be the one to get in here like I did," Elias said arrogantly. "Was it just as easy to walk in here when I killed that assassin?"

"So, you confess to murdering him," Hans observed.

"And you're also playing investigator. Why am I not surprised? You never did conform to the roles you were supposed to follow, executioner."

It was surprisingly difficult to not let Elias' snide attitude to get to him, but it was doable as long as Hans didn't give in to the faint twitch in his fingers that suggested that they were better placed crushing around Elias' neck instead.

No, no. Where were these homicidal urges coming from? Hans had a lot more patience than that. Surely he wouldn't jump to violence as an answer so quickly.

"Why did you kill him?" Hans asked as inflectionless as possible, hiding the sudden turmoil he was facing within himself. "He was going to face his sentence."

"Killing you was the end goal, so I had to make a detour to ensure that man didn't get away from what he deserved just because his executioner was out of commission."

"You know fully well that wasn't going to happen. Anders helped out in establishing this program, remember?"

"One can't be too careful." Elias paused, scanning Hans with scrutiny. "I can see that trying to get a confession from me isn't what you're here for."

Hans took that as an invitation to be straightforward. "I want to know why you killed him and then tried to kill me, and not just the cursory explanations you've been giving everyone else."

"Oh, and I thought I was going to have to run circles trying to get information from you. Anyway, I won't make any bit of sense unless I tell you a little story."

"Go on then, and don't go all poetic on me, the night can only go on for so long."

"You know me, I have a natural flair for the dramatic. Though, just to humor you, I will do my best to be as direct as I could be. Hmm, where to begin? Oh yes." Elias stretched his unbroken limbs (his bad arm was still immobilized in a sling) and ruminated with his head tilting towards the ceiling.

"Years ago," Elias said, starting his tale with a reminiscent tone, his eyes taking on an inappropriately cheerful gleam. "There was a young boy, almost too young to comprehend the world around him. He had many brothers, eleven at the time, and one more was just about to be born when he started having nightmares.

"The boy didn't know what they were until he was much older, about to grow past his adolescent years. They were visions of things to come, things that he thought was his duty to prevent. He saw terrible things, the greatest was one of a brother obtaining power that could devastate and destroy many kingdoms. And so, the boy made this his life's purpose: prepare for the worst of things to come and, if he could, avoid them altogether.

"And what do you know? The boy was wrong to think it was his destiny to stop these events from happening. In fact, it appeared that he had aided in the realization of his visions. One by one, he saw his nightmares become reality, and he was in denial thinking that there was still a chance to salvage the situation. He still thinks he can."

"This boy… You're talking about yourself?" Hans asked after Elias was finished.

"We'll aren't we being a bit slow tonight? Of course it's me!"

"You have visions?"

"That's the popular term for it, but they're not as flashy and… easy to understand as most like to believe. They're pretty open to interpretation, but I can at least see the people involved."

"And you never told anyone?"

"No. I thought it best to keep others from interfering with my oh-so-important duty to prevent tragedy from occurring. Oh, but you'll love this part of the story: I did tell someone. Klaus."

"Klaus…" And then a dreadful comprehension overcame Hans. "You knew I would kill him."

"Yes, and I told him, and so he thought it best to avoid you as he tried to come to terms with it."

Hans had to steady himself against a wall as the wave of understanding crashed into him without mercy.

Of course it was too incomprehensible for Klaus to ignore him like that out of nowhere. He was always in people's business, and for him to do an about-face with no explanation… Not to mention that it wouldn't be too out-there to convince those he had sway over, the younger Elias and Aleksander, to avoid Hans since he thought he would be dangerous. It hurt back then to not know, but it hurt even more now that it was too late to fix anything.

It all made terrible sense now.

It also explained Elias and his bizarre fixations growing up.

"You knew about the pixies," Hans said. "That's why you had Mother read those stories to us when I was little, and why you were obsessed with all those folk tales."

"Precisely."

"But… why didn't you tell me? Why did you have to be so indirect in doing all this?"

"Well, I never did claim I was the most capable person. I also suffer from bouts of vanity, so of course I wanted all the credit once I revealed my abilities and saved the day. I'm sure you know the feeling. It runs in the family, you know."

"Don't remind me."

"And is it so out of character for me to genuinely dislike you? Why would I say anything to you, after all? If this is who you would inevitably end up being, why waste any effort on maintaining any sort of relationship with you?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it could have prevented this whole disaster in the first place?"

"True, but I've enjoyed the thought of having a nemesis to have to thwart. It's just like the stories of heroes, saving the day from an evil they've spent years trying to vanquish."

Was Hans seriously hearing this from his brother? Was Elias even aware of the delusions that were coming out of his mouth?

"I'm not your enemy, nor do I want to be. You couldn't possibly believe this nonsense, Elias."

"You tell me. After all, aren't you the one who could read people like a book? You must be out of practice, since you've come all the way here just to figure out my motives. However, if there's one constant about you, it's that you hate not knowing things since it will all blow up in your face afterward. And after that wonderful display in the dining hall, you continue to be ignorant to what you've been corrupted with."

Hans gave pause. He risked delving deeper by taking the tag of bait his brother tossed him. "You know something about my curse."

"Spent years trying to find information about it, so of course! You insult my intelligence and perseverance thinking otherwise. Now, where's that dagger Rasmus brought along with him?"

"Just get on with it, Elias."

The contented smirk that Elias gave him made him feel uneasy.

"That spell the pixies placed on your heart. It's not a curse, not like the one with you try to hide with those filthy mitts of yours. Think of it more like… a siphon."

"A siphon. That doesn't explain much."

"Tell me, Hans, have you ever considered where the souls you sacrificed end up?"

Hans hadn't really thought about it, and hearing Elias point out that folly made him feel selfish.

Elias continued, "One might think they'd go to heaven or hell or some form of purgatory or even ceasing to exist altogether, but no, those you've sacrificed have been fused with nature itself. It's all a concept where my mortal mind can't truly understand its intricacies, especially since magic never really made any sense. The siphon generally works in one direction; nature draws power from around you whenever you perform a sacrifice. From what I saw after trying to kill you? Well, apparently the spell wasn't perfect, so there's a leak in the siphon, and whatever that leak is spewing out, it's corrupting you."

Elias was insane, there was no way this was really happening.

But Hans knew there was some truth to what he was saying. It explained the dark cloud that followed him that the others described as something… evil. If he's actually being corrupted, it would also explain the sudden desire to give in to more violent tendencies.

There was no possible way that Elias was some sort of seer. There should have been something, anything that would've hinted at such a thing while he was growing up. No one was as good as Hans when it came to secrecy and deception.

Yet… it was only recently where Hans realized he had been wrong about his family. Could Hans simply have misread Elias the whole time?

"Where's the dagger? Let me finish what I started," Elias said. "The atrocities must end, Hans."

The thirteenth prince closed his eyes, trying to block out the rising frustration that threatened his level-headedness.

"If you knew this was going to happen, why didn't you just kill me years ago? Why now, when you know I can't let you do that?" Hans asked, turning his head away, not wanting to look Elias in the eyes.

A mistake to turn attention away from him.

With an impressive speed, considering Elias was still injured, Hans was slammed into the wall he was leaning against, an arm shoved against his windpipe. The two stared at each other, their genetic green gazes linking.

Elias was crying.

A sight made all the more disturbing since Elias continued to bore his stare into Hans. Seeing his brother in such a vulnerable state caused the latter to keep from trying to protect himself. Doing so felt like sacrilege.

But also… would trying to defend himself turn into something more deadly?

"I asked myself that question every day," Elias growled in a low voice. "Why? It shouldn't be so hard. After all, he's going to kill your favorite brother. After all, you knowthe darkness that will consume him one day, and somehow he will convince everyone to be okay with it. It should be easy, since I have every motivation I needed to kill you.

"And guess what? I've learned something about how life works. What you don't know can hurt you, and what you know won't save you. I didn't know what it was that kept me from taking a sword and gutting you all those years ago. I didn't know what it was that wanted me to see you become an honorable prince, to see you defy the legacy of Father that you've inherited in your blood.

"I was ignorant to the fact that… despite everything… you are my brother and I love you. It was a realization I had during Klaus' funeral. And once I realized this, I knew then that I couldn't let love get in the way again. I knew that, the next time I saw you, I shouldn't give up the opportunity."

"Yet I'm at your mercy again and you haven't killed me," Hans croaked, his throat still being crushed. Elias shut his eyes and released Hans, shoving away from him. Hans rubbed at his sore neck.

"As I said: what you don't know can hurt you, and what you know won't save you. I know a lot of things, more than most, but I'm not omniscient. I have no idea what will happen after I kill you, but I do know that whatever power that's been corrupting you, I'm powerless to stop it."

Elias collapsed onto the cot in the cell, heaving a long sigh.

"All of this work, all my efforts, and it'll end like this," Elias said to himself. "Even though I saw this coming, I'm still surprised. Love is something no one can really plan on happening." He turned to face Hans, offering a sad smile. "Looks like you're going to be the one to finish all this. My end is near."

"I'm not going to kill you, Elias," Hans said, not quite understanding the bizarre statement.

"No, but I'm still offering the same: let me kill you, and we'll be done with this."

"Only a madman would agree to that, and you're fully aware of this."

"Really? Oh, at some point you'll be begging for an offer like this to cross your path again. After all, you want to avoid hurting those you love, correct?"

Hans' blood chilled in his veins at the possibility. "We're learning to manage."

"Are you now? Tell me, what are you going to do? Continue with all the executions, knowing that each death brings you closer and closer to losing your humanity?"

"You don't know that," Hans grit out petulantly.

"No, you don't know that. I, on the other hand, saw the signs as soon as that room went dark and you flung me through an exploding door. You just don't want to believe it. And what's next? You're going to start hearing nature speaking louder in your mind? Attract its attention once you've accumulated enough power?"

Hans blanched since Elias had described exactly the new developments in his curse, the very things he hadn't had a chance to express to the others yet. How did Elias know?

Could Elias really be telling the truth?

"It's already happened, hasn't it?" Elias asked. He burst into mocking laughter and seethed sarcastically, "Oh, joy! It looks like it's only going to get worse from here on out! Watch out, everyone, Hans is going to go on a killing spree soon, and no one is going to be able to stop it!"

"I won't let it get to that point, Elias. Never."

"Ah-ah, never say never, dearest baby brother. After all, I told myself I'd never let you get to this point, and here we are."

It was a mistake to speak to Elias. His brother had lost his mind. Nothing he said should be taken seriously.

But… why did Hans feel like Elias was right?

Hans buried the urge to throttle him and decided it was time to leave. He was about to reach for the cell door's handle when Elias spoke up once again, apparently not finished with tormenting the youngest brother with his malevolent words.

"If you're not going to let me kill you, then at least be open to the idea of doing it yourself," Elias deadpanned. "And if you do, make sure you can't miraculously recover from it either."

Hans hesitated on opening the door, took a deep breath with closed eyes, and exited the cell.

Morning would come, and hopefully with all the festivities of the wedding, he would be able to put his conversation with Elias behind him. While he didn't get the closure that he was seeking from him, at the very least he could somewhat piece together a resolution for the wrongs that Klaus enacted.

Somewhat.

He'd let Elias get to him, get into his head, and now Hans was doubting the effectiveness of what he was doing in Arendelle..

He killed a lot of dangerous, evil people, done under the instruction of the law. But there were four innocents: Klaus and the Coronians. What he had done was doom their souls to a fate that shouldn't be theirs, shouldn't have been an outcome that he had the power to decide over.

Let it go, thought the faint, almost-forgotten side of Hans, the side that reminded him so much of Queen Elsa. It saved him from falling further into the downward spiral of that line of thinking. What's done is done. You can't change the past.

Once Sir George the guard woke up from his... forced slumber, Hans knew he was going to have an earful come morning.

###

"What were you thinking?" Kristoff asked, exasperated, running a hand down his face.

Sitting before Kristoff was a petulant George, occasionally prodding the sizable knot forming on the side of his head, and a disturbed, yet surprisingly apologetic Prince Hans.

Kristoff did not sign up for this.

Or anything, really.

At the very least, he knew he was the man to deal with the peculiar events that happened in the morning. Everything seemed alright and routine when everyone went to sit at the table for breakfast. Hans' brothers were even behaving and busying themselves with preparing for the festivities later in the day. Of course, when all is calm, all it took was the misfortunate Prince Hans to ruin it. Not the prince's fault, really, but it definitely was a recurring theme.

At least Hans was going to be open to confessing his wrong-doings the other night instead of keeping it hidden. It showed that he was developing a better sense of morality and responsibility. It was also a surprise, since no one had really seen him much outside of the room he was temporarily assigned, or even during his free time, which Hans used to spend with the queen.

What even happened to that? Those two seemed like they were doing well, especially since it seemed that Elsa finally found another person to talk politics and history and other such things. Something certainly happened on that front.

"To be honest, thinking didn't have a large part in it," Hans replied, avoiding eye contact.

Hans had an interesting and detailed retelling of last night's events, even rehashing the route he took to avoid all the guards so that it wouldn't be exploited again. One thing Kristoff wasn't able to pull from him was what Elias said after the confession. But then again, Hans said that whatever Elias said afterward was just nonsense and that nothing useful was given to him, not to mention that it would cut into their already tight schedule for the day.

It wasn't a satisfactory explanation, but he received a promise to get into it more once things weren't so time-constraining at the very least.

"Uh huh, and remind me again why you didn't consider how everyone else would feel about it, especially me, your parole officer, whose duties are centered around making sure you behave yourself?"

"I told you, I did think about my actions, and I know they were bad. I just… hated feeling so helpless, so I took action. Rash, to be sure."

"Then why didn't you just tell me? I thought we're friends. That's what friends do, you know. Talk things out when things are bothering them, give advice on things, just be there for them."

Hans shrunk into himself. "I know, I know, and I'm sorry." He turned to the guard. "And I'm sorry for knocking you out in your sleep."

"Just be glad I woke up from it. However, I forgive you," the guard grunted, hissing after another self-inspection of the swelling lump on his skull. "I can't stay mad at you for long, since you remind me of my son."

"Isn't he twelve?"

"Your point being?" A sly grin eased its way on the guard's face.

Kristoff expected Hans to be indignant in response, but instead, the prince merely pursed his lips and looked shamefully away.

Okay, something was definitely up with Hans. Again.

Really not something he wanted to deal with on his wedding day, especially since everyone was running a tight schedule. Hopefully, whatever was eating at the prince could wait until the end of the day.

A glance at the grandfather clock, and he knew that he should start dressing for the ceremony.

"Oh, there's the man I've been looking for!" rumbled a man's voice joyfully from behind him. Kristoff turned to see its owner, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was King Eugene of Corona. "Turns out having all the royal limelight didn't scare you off after all."

"I have to thank you for that," Kristoff said, bowing in greeting.

"Hey now, no need for that. We're not in public." Eugene looked past Kristoff's shoulder and flinched. The brunet former thief pulled the blond ice harvester aside and asked in a hushed tone, "What's… why is, uh, he loose?"

"Hans? He's fine. It's a long story."

"So it's just Hans now, no 'prince' title or anything? Geez, a few months, and I'm seriously out of the loop. So what, indentured servitude? Threat of death?"

"Rehabilitation, actually."

"And it's working? Wow, you Arendellians need to share some of that information me and my wife."

"I'm sorry, Mister Bjorgman, but… who's this?" the guard asked, raising an inquisitive brow.

"This," Kristoff said, gesturing to the king, "Is King Eugene of Corona."

The guard's mouth fell agape as he fell into a bow, Hans following suit but with an obvious tension in his frame.

George sputtered, "My apologies, Your Majesty. I didn't mean to insult your presence for not greeting you properly, and for interrupting what appeared to be a private conversation. I wanted to be sure—"

"Whoa there, I'm not that kind of king," Eugene said, hands in a placating manner. "No need for an explanation, uh…"

"Sir George," Kristoff offered.

"Sir George," Eugene finished. Then, to Kristoff, "Wait, you still knight people here in Arendelle?"

"Don't you over in Corona?"

"Yes, but I haven't really given it much thought."

Out of the corner of Kristoff's eye, Hans shifted on his feet, trying to indiscreetly look at the clock so as to no appear impatient or rude. Kristoff looked at the clock again, and realized that Hans needed to be somewhere else, too.

"Uh… don't you need to be with the queen about now?" Kristoff said, offering the prince an out. Hans nodded slowly and took his exit, the guard following closely.

"Alright, now give it to me straight: how in the world is he allowed anywhere near the queen? I know from all the letters that Queen Elsa sent our way told us that his curse isn't able to be lifted, so surely, don't you think that's… I dunno… a bad idea?" the king expressed, hands waving around emphatically.

"The idea's working so far."

"And you feel like he's rehabilitated."

"Yes."

"Then care to explain the guard that apparently needs to follow him around?"

"It's more to have everyone else tolerate his presence. He doesn't really need anyone watching him."

Well, after Hans' stunt in knocking said guard unconscious, Kristoff might have to amend that statement. Though, he'll hold off on making that call as soon as he had a proper discussion with him later.

Eugene didn't really need to know about that, however.

"Why are you here?" Kristoff asked.

"Rapunzel sent me. She thought I could help you out before the ceremony. Ya know, kinda because I've been in the same boat. Queen Elsa and Princess Anna agreed, so here I am."

"I really appreciate the sentiment."

"Oh, and Anna told me to tell you she said hi, and to try not to freak out too much since your family is here."

"My family?" An excited grin flashed on Kristoff's face. "They're actually coming?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"They've never left the forest before. Wow, this is amazing news!"

"Forest…? Oh, right. They're trolls, got to remember that. Yeah, uh… try not to overdo it with the enthusiasm. A lot of the snooty folk from the nearby kingdoms are here, they might take that excitement the wrong way, kinda like you have more… malicious intentions for marrying a princess."

"Intentions" being that Kristoff wanted to marry for power, not love, which was ludicrous. But he could see how it could be misinterpreted that way. Kinda. Okay, rein it in, got it.

Oh geez, Kristoff was actually getting married today.

###

"You know you don't have to be miserable for my sake, Your Majesty," Hans said gently after he helped usher another set of wedding guests to their accommodations after the queen gave them a proper welcome. "It's your sister's wedding day, you should be overjoyed."

Elsa knew she should. Anna was finally getting the proper happiness she deserved after experiencing disappointment for a majority of her childhood. Her dearest sister was beginning a new, beautiful chapter of her life; shouldn't Elsa be more jovial?

Yes, and the joy was there, but after realizing her feelings for Hans, and just the thought that they were denied on terms neither party could really accept dampened her celebratory spirit. But was she being that obvious? Was she even allowed to be upset about this? It was a brief realization, after all, but why did it feel like she lost a lot more than a fleeting romantic fancy?

"Perhaps, but I can't when there's a person I care about who's hurting more than me," Elsa sighed.

Her answer didn't make Hans any more happier. In fact, his already downcast expression turned even more sullen. It seemed that he noticed that she was observing him, since he buried whatever emotion he was showing under a neutral mask.

One step forward, three steps back. Elsa hated the land for forcing to Hans revert back into his penchant for secrecy.

"It's a celebration, Your Majesty. At least be open to the opportunity to enjoy yourself, should one arise," came his response. "I won't judge."

The smile he flashed her made her heart skip a beat at how genuine it looked, like it was enough to breathe life into their dismal situations. But one glance at his eyes, and she saw that its brightness didn't reach them. He hastily turned away, letting in another set of guests to greet her, as if to keep her from seeking whatever truth they were trying to reveal without his consent.

But she saw.

He was losing hope. For what – or even in what – she wasn't sure.

He wasn't like this yesterday when she went to check on him, so it must have been something Elias told him during the night. Hans kept denying that his brother said anything useful for anyone to glean any information from. While she could accept this explanation as truth, it didn't explain why he was so out of sorts.

"Promise me you'll do the same," Elsa said carefully, deciding not to press the matter. "If you find yourself enjoying the celebration, don't deny that from yourself."

Author's Note: Ugh, so many things I don't like about this chapter. A good portion of the reason why this is so delayed in updating was – not my schedule, though it did play a part – but the fact that I wrote and rewrote this chapter many times since I didn't know what I wanted out of it. This version is somewhat more to my liking, and it's not going to impede in my ability to write the next chapter plot-wise, so here it is.

In case something like this happens again, or just in case any of you ever wonder when is the next update coming and stuff, at the top of my profile there's a section dedicated solely to that, since I don't have anywhere else where you guys can check to see when the next chapter will be coming and if there are unseen factors to why one may be coming sooner or later than expected.

I don't know why I haven't done this before, honestly.

Thank you to all who've reviewed the previous chapter! I'm glad each of you decided not to run me through with a pitchfork, though the offer still stands for this chapter in particular due to what I feel is one of the most sub-par chapter's I've written thus far.

Yup, next time, I'm going to use an outline and plan things beforehand. Lesson learned.