Chapter 14: Back To Your Cell!
After the fire in the treasure room was put out and the remaining treasure was saved, Hans was arrested once again, and Anders had officially taken back the throne. Tomorrow, Anders was going to make an announcement to his people explaining the crimes Hans had committed and that he would again be the king. Anders had Hans by his jacket collar and threw him harshly back into his dungeon cell. He closed and locked the door as soon as he got back up. "You insolent little scoundrel! You thought you could trick us into being your slaves by some mind-control crap? And do you really believe the people of my kingdom would ever see you as a good leader? And it's because of you that nearly half our family's riches are now up in smoke! If Mother and Father were still alive, they would never want to see you or hear your voice ever again! You would have been free of this dank cell in just a couple years, but after this, you can look forward to spending the rest of your miserable life here!", Anders yelled at his youngest brother. "No, you can't do that to me!", Hans begged with tears in his eyes. "I can do whatever I want! I'm the king and you're not, and never will be again! It was very generous of Queen Elsa's boyfriend for saving your sorry ass. I think you should savor that thought as it will most likely be the last thought of anyone being nice to you, you'll ever have!", Anders yelled. He then went over to his brothers and the visitors from Arendelle to apologize for everything. "Queen Elsa, Princess Anna, words cannot begin to describe how sorry we are for everything my brother has put you through. Now, I say that not only for last year, but now this year after he fooled us all into doing unspeakable acts against you. You must believe us when we have no recollection of anything that happened when we were under his influence. But whatever me and my 11 other brothers did, please forgive us.", Anders apologized with sincerity. "We're all sorry, Anna and Elsa.", the other brothers said in unison. "Apology accepted, Anders.", Elsa stated. "Thank you. We all wish this could have been a more pleasant visit for all of you here in our kingdom, but our brother ruined that.", Anders said. "Like I said, no hard feelings. How are all you guys feeling?", Elsa asked. "We're all still a little weary, recovering from whatever it was he drugged us with. But other than that, fine.", Noah said. "You'll all be fine. Trust me, I know what it's like to be mind-fucked too. Except, I was controlled by an evil seductress, not by my brother, nor do I have any brothers.", Jacob said as he was referring to the incident with Poison Ivy a couple months ago. "That's good to know.", Oliver said. "I'm afraid I owe all of you here an apology too. It was my fault that this all happened to begin with because I thought Hans was rational enough to not go power-crazy, but I was wrong. Can you please forgive me, Your Majesty?", Bertram said. "I don't blame you, Bertram. I blame Hans.", Anders said. The little hobgoblin then spoke up and asked, "So, do you all still need me here or can I please go home?". "You can go, but I don't want to see you ever again! Your magic concoctions are too much for us to deal with, especially in the hands of someone like my brother.", Anders said. "No problem. I prefer solitude and messing with people of lesser standards anyway.", Pariah said and then left the cell to go back to his little cottage in the woods. The Arendelle Gang all looked at Hans for a minute not with anger or hate, but with sympathy for the tortured soul as they now understood how he came to be this way. They kept looking at him before Anders spoke up again. "I promise you all that after this, he'll never see the light of day again! We can send someone to get you all a ship back home when you're ready.", Anders said. "That sounds good, Anders. But before we go, I have a riddle for you.", Jacob said. "Excuse me?", Anders asked with confusion. "Old Eddie Nygma would love this if he were here. When is a villain not THE villain?", Jacob asked as he shot Anders a dark look. "I don't understand.", Anders said. "I think what you mean, Jacob is villains.", Elsa said as she shot a cold look to the other brothers too. Jacob took out Hans' old journal and began to elaborate what he meant. He opened up a page and said, "It says here you, Your Majesty, punched Hans after he asked if you could help him reach something off a shelf.". Anders was caught off guard when those words were said and didn't know how to react. Elsa chimed in and said, "And it says here that Henrik forced Hans to clean his and Christian's rooms daily when they should have done so.". Both Christian and Henrik looked at each other with shame. "One more thing is it says that all of you guys and your parents physically hurt him often.", Jacob said. "If anything, you all are indirectly responsible for what happened here and what Hans did in Arendelle. You turned him into what he is now. What do you all have to say to that?", Elsa asked sternly. "Look, I know we were pretty crappy brothers growing up, but that was a long time ago.", Noah said. "Well, it seems like you're still crappy brothers now especially after how Anders just yelled at him, even if he does deserve it.", Anna said. "I honestly have half a mind to show these entries to someone with the authority to do something to properly punish you guys, but I believe in second chances. Just like my sister gave me a second chance to be with her after neglecting her for so long.", Elsa said. "What do you want us to do?", Anders asked. "For starters, how about you start treating Hans like an actual brother and not as an animal. Secondly, instead of making it so he stays in there until he's dead, I'd say a 5-year sentence at best is most fair for his crimes both here and in Arendelle. There are much worse people out there than him and he shouldn't have to live in there forever. And if we get word, that you don't do those things, there's gonna be trouble for you.", Jacob threatened. "Okay, we'll do that. We're sorry to all of you.", Anders said. "Don't apologize to us, apologize to him.", Jacob said as he pointed towards Hans. Anders and the others went over to their brother who was standing behind the cell bars. "Hans, we're sorry for everything we did and how we treated you. We are truly sorry. Seeing as how you're 24 now, on your 29th birthday, you'll be free. And we promise to be kinder to you.", Anders said. "We all will.", Todd said on behalf of all of them. Hans stayed quiet for a moment as he was processing all this. "That's I guess nice to hear. Thanks.", Hans said. "Come on, boys. Let's leave.", Anders said as he and his brothers left the cell. Hans then spoke to Jacob and asked, "Hey, Jacob. When the trophy room was on fire, why did you save me after everything I did to you guys?". "You may be a devious bastard, Hans. But you didn't deserve to burn alive. And also because after reading the entries you wrote, I learned that you yourself are a victim of what you went through. Maybe we need to stop judging books by their covers. Just like how Anna fell in love with you, but wasn't aware of your real intentions. Or how people were quick to call Elsa terrible things after everyone discovered her secret. Or how after everything they told me about you, I was quick to hate you before even meeting you. The point is, maybe this could be a fresh start for all of us.", Jacob said. Hans shot Jacob a small smile as hearing that meant a lot to him. "Well, thank you. I owe you one.", he said. He then looked over at the others and said, "I guess I owe you all an apology. I don't expect you to forgive me.". "Definitely not right now, but maybe in time we will.", Anna said. "And Bertram, I definitely owe you an apology. You were right I did go mad with power. You were always there for me when I had nobody. It just felt so nice to finally be in control for once.", Hans said with true sorrow in his voice. "I forgive you, Hans. And I'll always be here when you need someone.", Bertram said who gave Hans a warm smile. "Keep an eye on him, Bertram.", Elsa said to the servant as they made their way out of the dungeon. After saying farewell to Anders and his brothers one last time and assuring them that they wouldn't show Hans' journal to anyone as long as they do what they agreed on. Anna and Elsa did successfully do what they came her to do in the beginning and establish trade business again with the Southern Isles which led to them parting on good terms with the brothers. They made their way towards the ship that would take them back to Arendelle while they were still conversing. "Man, I hope to never see this place again.", Sven said. "I'm with you on that, Sven. Nothing but bad memories here.", Kristoff said. "I don't know, guys. It was at least somewhat of a happy ending. Hans will get out in 5 years and hopefully be a warmer person. His brothers promised to treat him with more respect. I think that's a win.", Olaf said as cheery as always. Anna giggled and said, "That's why I love you, Olaf. You always try to see the good warmness in every situation.", Anna said as she bent down to hold the snowman's hand as they kept walking. Elsa and Jacob were right behind them when they both stopped to talk. "That really was something what you said in there. Those were really wise words.", Elsa said. "Yeah, well, I meant what I said. Nobody should get judged too quickly. Ever since you first told me about what Hans did to you and Anna, I felt nothing but hate for the guy even though I didn't even know him. But after learning the truth about his past, my POV on him changed. And it's not just him, the villains we fought together in Gotham had it rough too. Scarecrow was taunted and bullied growing up, Riddler was physically and verbally abused by his father, and Poison Ivy never had any friends except the plants in her garden and also witnessed her father kill her mother. All that shows nobody starts out bad, they're made that way.", Jacob said. "That is true. Funny thing is that I kind of had a similar story to all those guys and even Hans. I was forced into isolation by my parents and believed that showing my true self is bad and hiding it is what's best. All that really messed me up, but yet I didn't turn out bad. I could have and almost did because of how some reacted when I unleashed my magic and tried to kill me for it.", Elsa said. "No, and I'm so proud of you how you didn't let all that trauma turn you into a villain. You learned from it and grew from it into the beautiful, wonderful, kind person you are now. Anna is very proud of you too and we all love you so much.", Jacob told her while he gazed into her eyes and held her hand. They smiled at each other and then leaned into each other and shared a loving kiss while holding one another close. Their kiss was so loving and reassuring that neither of them wanted to stop. But they had to when they heard a familiar reindeer's voice. "Hey, can you guys stop making out! Let's go home!", Sven said. "Come on, Sven. Don't be a jerk. You don't say stuff like that when you see me making out with Anna.", Kristoff said. "He's right. I think we've all had enough of the Southern Isles. Let's go home.", Jacob said. "Sounds good to me. And when we get back, there's something I want to do for you. I should say not just you, but the other guys as well.", Elsa said. "What's that?", he asked. "You'll see.", Elsa said ambiguously. They both joined the others on the ship and sailed straight back to Arendelle.