Note: There are very dark themes ahead. I'm sorry if what you're going to read shocks or offends you, but I promise it will get better soon! Although this is hard to read I hope you still like this chapter, and please leave a review. Now more than ever, I want to know what you think. Bear with me, I promise this is as bad as it gets! A late Merry Christmas to everyone that celebrates Christmas, and have a fantastic day!

Chapter 24: Rotten Souls

Blind terror.

That was what Elsa felt as the last glimpse of Jack, screaming NO, disappeared from her vision. Suddenly, there was nothing underneath her feet. She could feel nothing solid except for Pitch's hand gripping her arm painfully. It was as if someone had suddenly pushed her into a long black hole that had no end.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, she felt ground beneath her feet, that appeared so suddenly underneath her that her knees buckled. Before she could fall, Pitch threw her forward, and she landed on the floor. She looked around her, though she still felt faint, and the room around her was spiralling. She felt as if she was about to be sick.

"Elsa!"

Suddenly, there were tender arms around her, and teardrops that were not her own were sliding down her cheeks.

"Rapunzel?" she whispered, barely able to believe it. Her brown hair was a few inches longer, but it was her, her stunning green eyes wide with worry. And as horrible as their situation was, Elsa was suddenly smiling, wider than she'd had in weeks. "Rapunzel! You're alive!" And then they were hugging, holding closely to each other- but there was something wrong. Elsa pulled back, surveying Rapunzel. She looked down and gasped in shock.

"Rapunzel," she whispered, horror-struck, not believing what she was seeing.

Where Rapunzel's right hand should have been, was a mangled, bloody lump. It looked like Rapunzel's hand and arm had been crushed before someone had violently swung an axe to her wrist to separate her hand from her body. "What have they done to you?"

"Nothing that I don't deserve," said Rapunzel, crying silently.

"What do you mean?" frowned Elsa.

"Your cousin here told me where were your chambers," said Pitch with an amused cruelty in his voice. They both jumped. In their joy of finding each other, they had forgotten he was there.

Pitch stood, his back to the stonewall. They were in a circular room, torches on the walls lighting it- no windows let sunlight in, so Elsa had no idea what time it could be. She suddenly felt a wave of claustrophobia- this reminded her irresistibly of when Hans had captured her, and she'd been in a cell, her hands locked in a metal cage, rendering her powerless and helpless-

Her hands.

They weren't encaged now.

"Get away from us," said Elsa, cold rage sounding in her voice. She stood up, brushing dust and soot from her dress. "Let us go, or I'll swear I'll-"

"Use your powers on me?" finished Pitch, a malicious glint in his eye. "You can't, little queen- Darkness is in every single one of these stones. I made this cage myself- and fear surrounds you. You control your powers with love, am I right?"

Elsa stared at him speechlessly.

"If you use your powers on me now- Well, maybe, you'll succeed. But maybe you'll lose control over them… why, you could kill your traitorous little cousin."

Rapunzel sobbed harder, turning her face towards the wall, away from Pitch, as if she could hide her tears.

"What do you want?" said Elsa quietly. Her hands were closed into fists, nails digging into her palm.

She could feel it now. She felt as if every happy thought, every remanence of the love she held for Jack, Anna, Rapunzel, Eugene, all of Arendelle… it was gradually leeching out of her, and with it- the control she had over her power. She shut her eyes briefly, and an image came to her- the one of a teenage girl, crouched into a ball in her room, the door, windows, even the wall frozen, and tiny snowflakes wafting through the air.

"The child you bear."

Pitch's words had been soft, but as Elsa opened her eyes to meet his, she had never felt so threatened. It was as if his words floated around her, strangling her. Before she could process what he'd said, however, Pitch was gone, and there was the sound of the lock closing behind him.

…

Jack flew through the corridors. He felt as if he'd never flown quicker in his whole life, the portraits and suits of armour blurs around him.

He slammed into the double door that led to the Council Room, wanting to find anyone, anything- he needed help, he needed help now, Elsa was with Pitch and he had let it happen and he needed help-

"Jack!" said a shocked voice, and Jack nearly slammed into Eugene as he skidded to a stop in mid-air.

"Eugene!" Jack cried out in relief, "Eugene- Elsa, she's-"

"What are you doing here?"

The question didn't reach Jack's ears- he felt as if he couldn't hear anything over a faint buzzing sound that seemed to overwhelm his senses. He vaguely noticed two people, that he recognized as Eleanor and Gregory, looking concerned.

"I just came back- Pitch, in Elsa's room- he took her-"

"What?" Eugene said, his eyes widening in horror.

"PITCH TOOK ELSA!" roared Jack, and then he had sunk onto his knees, and buried his head in his hands. His wooden staff fell with a clunk to the floor.

"But- but how is that possible-"

"He was in her room," said Jack, not lifting his head from his palms, "I didn't arrive in time- I tried to protect her, but he attacked me with something and it was so painful- and, Eugene, I screamed and Elsa was crying and she went with him-"

He felt Eugene's hands beneath his elbows pulling him up to his feet.

"She went with him to protect me," he whispered. "She's- she's so stupid-"

Then, he felt Eugene's arms around him, pulling him tightly in, hugging him.

"When Rapunzel told them she was Anna," said Eugene hoarsely. "The same exact thought ran through my mind. I kept thinking… 'If she dies, I swear I'll kill her'."

Jack didn't answer him. He felt as if he'd gone completely numb.

"But Jack- Rapunzel is so brave, and that's what I love about her. And that's what you love in Elsa too."

Jack's head whipped up at the word love, so that their eyes met. Eugene noticed, and gripped his shoulders.

"You do love her," he murmured, "Don't you?"

For a second, an image flashed behind Jack's eyelids- a courtyard, covered in snow- A pair of bright blue eyes that he was about to leave behind- and instinctively, he'd known what she'd been about to say, and he'd stopped her from saying those three words, because he'd been afraid that they would be a goodbye-

"Yes," Jack whispered. "Yes, I do."

And he knew what he had to do. Not paying any heed to Eleanor and Gregory who were looking horrified, Eleanor's hand covering her mouth, he bent down and picked up his staff.

"I'm going," he said, and his voice wasn't shaking anymore. "I'm going to get her."

"We all are," said Eugene. "We'll save the both of them. The army is ready- we just need-"

"Us?" interrupted voices, and Jack turned. In front of him was North, beaming down at him- Tooth and Bunny were smiling next to him, and Sandy bounced around Jack for a full minute.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, stunned.

"We heard your army's ready," grinned Bunny. "Did you think you would have fun without us?"

Jack was silent for a moment. Then he sprinted forward, lurching into Bunny's firm grip. Tooth and North joined the hug. Jack was trembling, with fear for Elsa and gratitude to his friends. He felt as if a thousand different emotions were coursing through his body; fear and adrenaline, desperation and hope; intense happiness swept through him at the same time as anguish did- but above all, the fierce realization that he loved someone so deeply that if he could die, he would give his life for her. Without a second of hesitation. He wanted nothing more than to have Elsa in his arms, her lips pressed firmly against his.

Eugene was gaping at them. It occurred to Jack that out of all the Guardians, he'd only seen North, and that only once- now he was standing before all of the Guardians, the incarnation of his childhood. If the situation hadn't been so desperate, he would have teased Eugene endlessly.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" smiled Tooth, a small reproving tone in her voice.

"Right," said Jack. "Eugene, this is Tooth, the Tooth fairy, Sandy, the Sandman, you've already met North, of course, and this is-"

"The Easter Rabbit," he said faintly.

"Eugene," said a faint voice, and Jack turned to Eleanor. Her hair, as bright red as he remembered it, was reflecting the firelight. She was staring at Eugene, a concerned look in her eyes. "What's going on?"

Eugene blinked.

"I think it's time to get my wife and her cousin," he answered.

…

Elsa wiped her tears angrily. It was no use crying now. All that she could do now was wait for Pitch to come back-

And let him take my child.

Elsa put a hand over her still-flat stomach. She had barely begun to accept that a baby was growing inside her, Jack's and hers, and it hadn't even occurred to her that the baby would have powers like her own and Jack's, or even eventually be more powerful than the two of them combined-

And if Pitch did take the child and raised it as his own, what kind of monster would it become?

Rapunzel was crouched into a ball, her head on Elsa's knees, quietly sobbing. Elsa didn't have it in her to blame her for the mess she was in. She didn't know what she'd do if Jack had been threatened.

Not betray your own cousin, hissed a voice inside her head, and Elsa instantly hated herself. She wouldn't blame Rapunzel. She refused to.

Now, she had to find a way out.

But she felt so weak. What Pitch had said was true- she was barely stopping herself from being swallowed up by despair. She felt trapped, as if there was no escape possible, the walls of her prison coming closer around her-

She couldn't sleep. She knew that if she closed her eyes, she would be in that room again, standing, feeling spikes against her bare arms, desperately trying to stop the burning ice inside her core from spreading against the walls-

She swallowed back a sob as her thoughts returned to the baby. Would it look like Jack? Would he or she have the same blue eyes, and a shock of white hair? Or would it have her blonde hair?

"Rapunzel," she whispered, and Rapunzel rose up, her green eyes meeting Elsa's blue, desperate ones. "Rapunzel, I can't have this baby."

"What do you mean?"

"If it has Jack's and my powers combined-"

"You don't know that-"

"Why else would Pitch want my baby?" she asked, still whispering, warily eyeing the door. She didn't want guards to overhear. "Could you imagine, a child with that kind of power that loves Pitch- I don't even want to."

"What do you think you can do?" said Rapunzel, clutching the arm where her hand was missing. "Tell the baby to go away?"

Elsa started looking around frantically, searching for something, anything-

"If I find a weapon-"

"What do you think you're going to do?" asked Rapunzel sharply. Elsa bit her lip, not daring to make eye-contact with her cousin.

"If I die," she whispered, so quietly she didn't know how Rapunzel could hear her, "The baby will never be able to harm anyone-"

"Elsa!" cried out Rapunzel, horrified, and Elsa immediately clapped a hand on her mouth, smothering her scream.

"Be quiet!" she whispered angrily. "Do you want them to hear us?"

Rapunzel lowered Elsa's hand from her mouth.

"Do you even hear yourself?" she hissed.

"Right now, inside me, there's a person that could destroy everyone we care for, if Pitch gets his way-"

"Elsa," said Rapunzel, shaking her head furiously. "Please stop-"

"I'm thinking about Anna, Kristoff, their child, Eugene-"

"You're doing exactly what your parents did to you!" Rapunzel said, visibly stopping herself from screaming at Elsa, "Thinking that that child will be a danger-"

"It will be-" hissed Elsa, "You've seen what Pitch is capable of. I can't- I won't- give that kind of weapon to him."

"You're talking about your baby-"

"Don't you think I know that?" whispered Elsa, swallowing back tears.

"There are no weapons to kill yourself with," retorted Rapunzel, "And anyway I won't let you."

"I have ice powers," said Elsa, "And you only have one hand."

"You can't use your powers here, and I only need one hand to slap you back to your senses-"

Before Rapunzel could finish, the door creaked open. Instantly Elsa whipped her head around, already bracing herself for the tall dark figure that would greet her-

But it wasn't Pitch in the doorway. In front of her was someone she'd never thought she'd see again, someone she'd promised herself to kill if she did see him again. She gaped at the red-headed prince.

"Hans," she breathed.

Hans looked hurriedly behind him before entering their prison, closing the door smoothly behind him.

"Don't you dare take a step forward, you bastard-" snarled Elsa. He didn't, and something flashed in his eyes, something she couldn't quite place- resentment? Guilt?

"It's okay Elsa," whispered Rapunzel tentatively, "He's been sneaking in food for me. I'd have starved a thousand times over if it weren't for him."

"I brought bandages, for your hand," Hans said, whispering.

"Don't you know who that man is?" asked Elsa, standing up and standing in front of Rapunzel, protecting her.

"He won't hurt me, Elsa," said Rapunzel, grabbing Elsa's hand with her free one. "He's been helping me."

"And why would you do that?" spat Elsa, this time talking directly to Hans.

"I don't think what my father is doing is okay," said Hans.

"Really?" she said sarcastically, "You mean asking the help of a maniac to conquer a country that did nothing to do, cutting off hands and holding people prisoner? I'm so grateful that your conscience has caught up with you."

"I know that I can't say anything that would make you believe how sorry I am-"

"For trying to kill Anna?" she snapped.

"I wasn't the one who injured her," he retorted.

"Well, you didn't do anything to help, did you?"

"Elsa," interrupted Rapunzel, "Elsa, please stop. I know he's done some unforgivable things but (she raised her voice, as Elsa had looked about to interrupt) he's helped me these past weeks. Please. We need all the help we can get."

Elsa bit her lip, refraining from saying anything more. After a moment of tense silence, Hans stepped forward, towards Rapunzel. Elsa's body tensed as he gently took hold of Rapunzel's mangled arm, but he only took out a clean cloth out of his pocket, and gently cleaned the blood.

"I disinfected it last time, so I don't think you'll have any infection," he whispered, "I'm sorry I can't make you a bandage, but Pitch will know that someone's helping you."

"And God forbid you put yourself in harm's way," Elsa muttered, but Hans ignored her.

"I know about your baby," he said, looking up at her. Elsa's mouth tightened, and she clenched both her hands tightly together. "I heard you both argue through the door."

"Please tell her to stop this," sighed Rapunzel.

"I'm not going to tell you the plans Pitch has for that child," said Hans, his eyes flickering down to her stomach, "It's better that you not know."

Elsa buried her head in her hands. She could no longer keep the tears at bay, and she let them submerge her. She sobbed hard in her hands. When Rapunzel tried to touch her, Elsa shrugged off her touch, and retreated to the corner of the dungeon. She could barely hear Hans above the dull roaring sound in her ears.

"I have something that can help you," she heard him whisper. She turned back to face him.

He put his hand in his pocket, and fished out what looked like a plant, with a white flower on it.

"This will make your body start contractions," said Hans. "The baby will leave your system."

"Hans!" said Rapunzel disbelievingly.

"Mix it with water. I can't promise you you'll live through it, but you will have a miscarriage."

He handed her the plant, and she looked down at the small white flower. It looked beautiful. If she'd seen it in a forest, she would never have imagined what kind of poison it contained.

"I'm sorry," said Hans, looking down at her, and something in his voice made her believe he meant it. "Truly."

"Rapunzel," she whispered, barely able to talk through the lump in her throat, "Please, stop. There's nothing you can do to change what I've decided. I won't let Pitch have my baby."

"Elsa, I beg you," said Rapunzel, and Elsa saw she was crying too, "They'll come to our rescue, I can feel it. You mustn't lose hope."

"I can't take that chance," said Elsa, and she sank slowly to her knees, holding tightly the flower in her hand. "Please, Rapunzel."

There was a pause. Then, Rapunzel's hand reached for Elsa's, and gently took the flower.

"Bring me some water, Hans," she said, as she held onto Elsa's hand and the flower tightly. Hans did so, bringing a dirty glass filled with water, and a spoon. Her hand trembling, Rapunzel reached for the glass and gently put it on the floor, before letting the flower drop down to the water. With the spoon, she gently crushed the petals, so that they blended with the water. When she was finished, she took the glass in her hand. Elsa lifted her head, and took it, looking at the contents of the glass, her gaze empty of emotion. She felt as if her whole being had gone numb.

"Elsa," said Rapunzel, but before she could try again to change her mind, Elsa grabbed the glass full of the poisonous herb.

She paused.

Then, she swallowed all of it in one go.

…

Dusk fell on the castle of Arendelle, and Jack watched the sun as it began its descent towards the horizon. He wasn't paying any attention to the courtyard below, though what seemed like a few thousand soldiers were filing into it. He was barely stopping himself from flying towards the Southern Isles as fast as he could, but he knew that Pitch would be waiting for him. And though he wasn't scared of Pitch, he wouldn't be any use to Elsa dead.

He looked down, and swallowed back a smile.

Elsa sure had been busy while he was gone.

The soldiers all had a determined look on their faces, as if they were completely unafraid, and would face even death to save their Queen. Eugene had told Jack that when he'd announced Elsa's kidnapping, there had been an uproar.

You did make yourself popular, didn't you Snowflake?

His mind flashed back to the pain Pitch had inflicted onto him, and how Elsa had given herself over to Pitch. Of course, he would have done the same for her, and without hesitation, but- he wished, in that instant, that she didn't love him as much as he loved her.

She would be safer.

He risked another look down. North, Bunny, Tooth and Sandy were in deep conversation beside the gate, Sandy nodding fervently. He had forgotten- almost- how mad he was supposed to be with North. But all that seemed so far away, so surreal, now that Elsa was gone-

I'm going to get her back, he thought firmly. And we'll be together again.

He thought about the cave, or that night, when she emerged from the bathroom, clothed in nothing that was appropriate for a queen. Though even near naked, she'd succeeded in being elegant. He thought of the way she kissed him, as if she couldn't suppress her passion- the sensation of her hand in his- he thought of how she'd looked, standing in the middle of a devastated village, rain pounding around them-

"Jack?" asked a soft voice, and his eyes jerked open. Tooth had flown up to join him on the roof, her deep purple eyes scrutinizing him anxiously. "Are you alright?"

He nodded, his throat dry from not having spoken a word since the Council Room.

"Yes," he said, "Just worried about Elsa."

"Pitch won't hurt her," she whispered, "He needs her."

"You don't know that," he breathed, shaking his head and averting his gaze.

"Jack-" Tooth started, and something in her voice made him look back up at her, "Jack, there's something you need to know. About Elsa."

"What?" he said, feeling a wave of anxiety at her words. "What is it?"

"I promised her I wouldn't tell you but under the circumstances-"

"Just tell me Tooth, please," he said, his voice higher than usual as he gripped his staff.

"A few days ago, I came into her room and- well, I found her being sick, and she told me-"

His heart gave a lurch, and he grabbed Tooth's elbows, tightening his grip without even realizing it.

"Is she- no-"

Tooth nodded, and Jack felt as if he was soaring and drowning at the same time- barely able to breathe, he managed to whisper, his eyes wide-

"Is she pregnant?"

When Tooth nodded again, Jack found that he was momentarily speechless.

"But- I didn't even know that was possible- I mean I'm not even technically alive-"

"You don't need to be alive to create a child, Jack," smiled Tooth. "If you love Elsa and she loves you-"

"But that means…" Jack gripped his staff, and didn't realize that the roof was freezing underneath his feet. An unspeakable terror suddenly had complete control over him, and he could barely stop himself from shaking. "Does Pitch know?"

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head. "I asked Sandy, and he told us that it was possible. After all, a child whose parents are the Spirit of Winter and the Ice Queen- it would be a new kind of magic, one powerful enough to upset the balance of things-"

"So that's why," said Jack, "That's why he took Elsa."

Before Tooth could say anything more, Jack had flown down to the courtyard, his feet sinking into the snow as he looked around for Eugene. When he found him, he streaked towards him, landing a few inches from him.

"Jack, for goodness' sake," hissed Eugene, trying to remain inconspicuous. "I can't talk to you in front of thousands of people that can't see you."

"A few of them might," Jack said, throwing a look at the soldiers. Maybe he'd imagined it, but he thought he'd felt a few bewildered looks thrown his way. "Eugene, we have to go."

"As soon as the sun sets, Jack," said Eugene, "North came with hundreds of snowglobes. We'll materialize right outside the palace and surround the Southern castle while they're all sleeping. We'll observe a little, and we'll attack tomorrow night."

Jack shook his head. "I can't wait that long, Eugene," he said.

"You have to," he said. "If we want to succeed in taking the palace and saving Rapunzel and Elsa-"

"I'll go in on my own then," said Jack. "One person inside the castle, and I'll look for them."

"Jack," said Eugene, "I want to get Rapunzel back too. But if we want to have a chance of success, we need to plan this."

Jack clenched his teeth together. He knew Eugene was right, of course, but his heart wouldn't- couldn't- listen to reason. Elsa was somewhere, in danger-

"Are you ready to go?" asked a booming voice and Jack turned to face North. "The yetis are. We can throw the snowglobes now, and your soldiers go through them."

"How are you going to explain the magical snowglobes?" asked Bunny.

"We told them it was a scientist who invented them. A certain Edison. It's not like they're going to check either way."

Edison.

Another flash, another memory to torture him- a music was playing, and they were dancing-

"It was a present. For my coronation. One of the first ever made; they can't be bought anywhere yet, the inventor- Edison, I think he's called- insists on perfecting it."

"Do you often ask people to dance when you don't even know how to dance?"

"Let's go," said Jack.

…

When Elsa woke up, the dark room around her was spiralling at top speed. Her body heaved, and she threw up on the dungeon floor.

She dimly heard a cry of relief, and felt Rapunzel's arm swing around her.

"Thank god," she said, near-crying, "I thought you'd- Thank god you're awake!"

"The baby?" Elsa croaked. Rapunzel let go of her, dropping her gaze.

"Hans took it away," she said, barely whispering.

Elsa looked down at her dress. The blue had become red with blood, and she could feel dried blood on her legs.

Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to scream, as loudly as she could, as if she could murder those who had done this to her, as if she could somehow scream loud enough for the pain and hurt to go away.

"The damn plant couldn't kill me along with it, could it," she said. She could feel tears fall down her face.

"Don't say that," said Rapunzel, her eyes shimmering with tears.

So much sorrow, Elsa thought, so much despair, all because one man wants power for himself.

"Do you think we'll see them again?" Elsa asked softly. She didn't need to tell Rapunzel who she was talking about. The room was beginning to swim out of focus again, and she felt herself become weaker and weaker. She felt as if she'd become the pain she was feeling.

"Of course we'll see them again, El'" said Rapunzel, as she laid Elsa's head on her folded knees. "Anna, Jack, Eugene, Kristoff… we'll see all of them again."

"Do you think Jack will hate me for what I did?" she asked weakly.

She didn't hear Rapunzel's answer as she sank into darkness.

…

Jack blinked as he stepped out to the other side of the portal. He'd been one of the last to come through. He looked around.

They were in what seemed like a huge forest, the trees high enough that they seemed to touch the swirling clouds overhead. It was night-time, and the darkness was nearly complete- the branches of the trees hiding the moon from view although Jack would have liked to see it. The Man- or more precisely, woman- in the Moon would have given him courage. He looked around at the soldiers. Though they were many, they all seemed to be as quiet as possible. They'd already begun to set up camp, although no fires were lit, as they would attract attention.

A circle of white light opened beside him, and Eugene stepped out of a portal.

"Remember what I said," he told Jack. "We're only a few miles from them. We'll see them soon."

"Can I just fly up?" asked Jack, though they both knew he wasn't really asking for permission. "I promise I won't go to the palace. I'll just see it."

Eugene sighed.

"Fine," he said, "As long as you're careful not to be seen."

Jack barely took the time to nod before he kicked off from the ground. He spiralled upwards, he was nearly above the thick leaves of the trees-

Suddenly, he was above the forest. A faint breeze played in his hair as he looked around himself.

He saw that the forest's thick trees formed a crown around a tall hill, at the top of which was a sumptuous castle, lights shining out of its every window. No-one could have guessed that behind those walls, horrible events were taking place.

The Summer Palace.

Elsa was somewhere inside, he thought. And soon, he would go inside that treacherous place, and go get her himself.

Soon.