Chapter 132

The Thirteenth Prince

Prince Hans and his rescue party, consisting of soldiers from Arendelle and other nations, approached the North Mountain summit on horseback. Their ascent had mostly gone unimpeded; they had been attacked a few times by Heartless, but every other time they appeared, the creatures simply sat back to observe them, particularly their leader, with curious interest. As the ice castle came into view, Hans turned to address the party.

"We are here to find Princess Anna. Be on your guard, but no harm is to come to the queen." he reminded them as he dismounted. "Do you understand?"

Most of his entourage voiced their agreement. The Duke of Weselton's bodyguards, however, shared a shifty look. Taking his horse by the reins, Hans marched toward the castle. As he approached, however, a pile of snow next to the ice bridge turned to reveal itself as Marshmallow, who was not happy with the intrusion. He stood up and roared at Hans. Hans drew his sword, while the Duke's guards drew their crossbows and the others pulled out spears. Marshmallow swiped at Hans, but the prince ducked to avoid the strike. The soldiers threw their spears at the snow creature and the Duke's guards each fired a crossbow bolt. Marshmallow braced against the attacks with his arm, then let out a ferocious roar, letting his eyes glow and allowing spikes and sharp teeth to grow to scare his enemies. He then swatted the Duke's guards, knocking them back against the snow bank.

Regaining their bearings, the guards saw Elsa peek out through the doors and quickly close them. "The queen!" one guard announced to his companion. They picked themselves back up, retrieved their dropped weapons, and ran up the stairs, while Marshmallow swatted the other soldiers and forced Hans to dive clear. Hans watched the guards run up to the castle, their crossbows raised, and realized what they were intending to do.

Elsa slammed the doors shut and made for the stairs, passing Riku, Aqua and Donald. "What's going on?" Riku asked.

"Arendellian soldiers. And some others from other kingdoms," Elsa replied. "With Anna's boyfriend at the lead."

Riku raised an eyebrow curiously. "The guy with the reindeer?"

Elsa shook her head. "No. A prince from the Southern Isles. She only knew him for a—"

Hearing the scratch of ice as the guards tried to force the doors open, she cut herself off and ran up the stairs. The guards burst through and pointed their crossbows at Riku, Aqua and Donald when they saw them. The Keybearers and the wizard summoned their weapons. "Hold it!" Riku shouted. Before they could engage in a fight, however, Neoshadows and blue versions of Morning Stars, Spiked Crawlers, appeared between them. Riku rolled his eyes at the interruption, then lashed out at one of the Spiked Crawlers.

While the queen's companions were preoccupied with the monsters, the Duke's bodyguards saw Elsa running up the stairs and snuck around the fight to pursue her. They cornered her on the second-floor landing, where the walls and floor were beginning to glow yellow, and pointed their crossbows at her.

"No! Please!" Elsa begged. One of the guards shot at her. Elsa raised an icy barrier just in time to stop the bolt, which pierced through the ice and came to a stop an inch away from Elsa's face.

The guards ran to the side so they would have a clear shot, the second tossing a new bolt to his companion.

"Stay away!" Elsa pleaded. She thrust her arms forward and cast magic, causing ice to sprout from the ground and culminate in a large spike at the end. One of the guards tackled the other out of the way right before the spike exploded upward. They kept repositioning themselves to attack, but Elsa cast more ice bursts to drive them off. With each spell, she became progressively less afraid and more frustrated and angry.

Outside, Hans rolled out of the way as Marshmallow attempted to step on him. As he got back up, he swung his sword at the snow monster's leg, slicing it right through its ankle. Marshmallow wobbled backward, its left foot completely separated from its leg. As Hans ran past and headed for the castle, the giant hopped backward to try and stop him, but he ultimately hopped too far and lost his balance, falling off of the cliff and into the ravine. As he fell, he struck the bridge with his arm, breaking a piece of the railing off and causing Hans to nearly fall. Hans caught a hold on the edge of the bridge, however. Struggling to pull himself up one-handed, he threw his sword up onto the steps and reached for hand holds with which to climb up. A pair of soldiers ran up to aid him and pulled him up safely.

Hans ran inside and found Riku, Aqua and Donald fighting the last of the Heartless. The final Neoshadow knocked Donald down and prepared to strike him while he was down, but Hans cut it in two with his sword, slaying it. He turned to face Riku. "Where is Queen Elsa?" he asked.

Riku cut down the last Spiked Crawler and turned to Hans. "The guys with the crossbows chased her upstairs," he replied. While he was not sure if he should consider Hans to be a friend or foe, he knew that he had to keep the thugs from harming Elsa, so he jumped over the banister and ran up the stairs without another word, followed by Hans, then Aqua and Donald.

Having finally had enough of her attackers, Elsa decided to end the fight right then and there. Casting a spell toward one of the thugs, she caused spikes to shoot out from the ground and pin him against the wall by embedding themselves around his shoulders, armpits and waist. Another spike shot up and inched its way toward his neck. Meanwhile, the other thug leveled his crossbow, but Elsa, one hand still controlling the spikes, blasted it out of his hand. He tried to run, but Elsa raised walls of ice to block him in on both sides. She then conjured a tall block of ice and pushed it toward the thug, shoving him against the balcony door. He tried to push it back, but to no avail. Elsa gave another push, and the block pressed against him hard enough that the balcony door cracked from the strain before shattering, its pieces breaking the balcony railing, and sending the man sprawling on the floor. Realizing that he would be doomed if he and the block were to fall off, he stood back up and resumed his futile efforts to push the block back.

Riku and Hans ran in, their companions right behind them, and stopped in their tracks as they saw what was happening. By that point, the walls had turned a bright golden-yellow. They immediately determined what had happened. Her retaliation was not unwarranted, but it was a step down a dark path, one that she should not have to become lost in.

"Elsa!" Riku called out to her. "Don't be the monster they fear you are!"

Elsa froze as she snapped back to her senses. She ceased her spells, causing the spike to stop growing and the block to stop moving, both just shy of bringing doom to her attackers, and let out a breath that she had not realized she was holding in. She looked back at Riku, terrified and ashamed of herself.

Seeing an opening, the thug who was pinned to the wall raised his crossbow and aimed it at Elsa, preparing to shoot her in the chest. Hans saw this and, casting a quick glance to his surroundings, ran over to intercept him. He grabbed the man's arm and diverted the crossbow upward just as the man pulled the trigger. The bolt pierced the chandelier near its topmost point.

Hearing the crack of breaking ice, Elsa looked up and gasped as the chandelier started to fall. She ran to get out of the way. The chandelier hit the ground and shattered with a great crash. Thinking quickly, Riku warped behind Elsa and raised a barrier to deflect any shards from hitting her. However, the crash shook the floor, causing Elsa to lose her footing and tumble.

When the ice shards had stopped flying, Riku lowered the shield and turned to check on Elsa. When he saw her lying on the floor, he ran over to check on her. "Elsa! Elsa!" he shouted, gently shaking her shoulder, but he got no response. He checked her pulse and listened, hearing weak breathing. He looked up to Aqua. "I need a light," he said. Aqua knelt down next to him as he pulled Elsa's eyelids open, and she used magic to generate a small beam of light from her finger, pointing it into her eye like a penlight. They noticed that her pupil was dilated, and checked the other one, with similar results.

"I think she might have a concussion," Riku reported.

Donald sighed. "With a blow hard enough to knock her out, a Cure spell would be too disorienting, might cause things to settle wrong, or possibly cause lasting damage. There's a way to revive someone from such injuries instantly, but it's incredibly rare, which is why I don't carry it around. Right now, we'll have to treat her with care until she wakes up on her own," he advised.

Riku nodded, understanding. He turned to address Hans. "What were you doing here?" he asked.

Hans cleared his throat. "We were worried when Princess Anna's horse returned alone, so we came to make sure she was safe," he explained.

"Anna was here earlier, with our friends, but Elsa had her snowman chase them out. I'm sure they're fine." He remembered the incident with the frozen Heartless, but he elected not to voice his fears of Anna possibly being at risk of great harm, not wanting to worry the rescue party any more.

"I see. Then it seems she wasn't able to get Queen Elsa to lift the winter curse," Hans noted. "I think it's best if we bring the queen back to Arendelle with us."

Riku considered the suggestion, then nodded. "Okay. But we need to be careful with her." He glanced at the thug who was still trapped on the spikes. "We should probably get these guys free."

Aqua nodded. She approached the thug and summoned her Keyblade. With a Fire spell, she melted the spikes enough to soften their tips, then sliced them until they fell to pieces. The thug landed on his feet, no longer stuck to the wall. Before he could either thank her or reload his weapon, however, Aqua dismissed her Keyblade and punched him in the jaw, then disarmed him and smashed the crossbow on the ground.

Seeing that the ice block still had not moved, as the other thug had almost no footing and no leverage, Riku warped over and appeared on the ledge of the balcony next to the thug. He extended his hand to the man, who begrudgingly took it. He flashed a mischievous smirk, then threw the man off of the balcony, sending him sailing until he crashed headfirst into the snowbank on the other side of the ravine.

He rejoined the others, addressing their concerns regarding the Duke's bodyguard with a smarmy "He'll be fine." He knelt down beside Elsa and looked up at Hans. "We'll need to keep her head stabilized while we bring her back to Arendelle," he said.

Hans nodded. "Understood. Um, I didn't get your name."

"Riku."

"Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

Elsa's eyes fluttered open. As her vision cleared, she saw that she was in a dark room with stone walls. She sat up, registering that she had been lying on a cot with a blanket thrown over her and a piece of cloth set as a makeshift pillow. She winced at the light that pierced through a window. Still wanting to look through, she ran for it, but stopped as she felt something pull her back by the hands. She turned around and saw that her hands had been sealed in large iron shackles that were connected to the floor by chains. She realized that she was in the castle's dungeon.

Riku stepped up beside her and rested a reassuring hand on her arm. "Easy. Easy," he said softly. "Sorry about all this. I asked them not to, but Hans and the others didn't want to take any risks. How are you feeling?"

Elsa started to bring her hand to her forehead, then realized that would not be feasible. "It hurts," she replied.

Riku nodded. "You hit your head when you went down. Drink this." He took a Potion out of his pocket and helped her take a sip, then pocketed it.

Elsa noticed that Riku was rubbing his arms to build up friction, in spite of the cloak that he had donned since returning to the town, and she could see his breath. Realizing how cold it must be in the cell, she approached the window, which looked out onto the fjord, getting as close as she could, and stared outside. She saw that the sea was frozen as far as the eye could see, and the ships were covered in ice and tilted haphazardly.

"Oh, no. What… What have I done?" she muttered, horrified at the damage she had caused with her out-of-control magic.

The door opened, and Elsa turned to see Hans enter, carrying a lantern. He set the lantern down on the second cot and approached Elsa, giving Riku a respectful nod.

"Why did you bring me here?" Elsa asked the foreign prince.

"I couldn't just let them kill you," Hans said, a sympathetic tone in his voice. He rubbed his arms to fend off the cold.

"But I'm a danger to Arendelle. Get Anna," she pleaded.

"Anna has not returned," Hans told her.

"My friend Mickey said that she and my other friends are on their way back," Riku added.

Hans gave Riku a look before returning his attention to Elsa. "If you would just stop the winter, bring back summer. Please."

Elsa sighed and looked Hans in the eyes. "Don't you see? I can't," she admitted regretfully. Hans' face fell as he realized that she was telling the truth; the best hope of ending the winter curse had just been snuffed out. "You have to tell them to let me go."

"I will do what I can," Hans promised. He turned to leave, beckoning Riku to follow him. While Riku did not want to leave Elsa there alone, he knew that he could not do anything to help at the moment, so he left with Hans.

Elsa began to breathe heavily, distraught as the truth of what she had done sank in. She heard the sound of ice cracking, and looked down to see that the shackles were freezing over.

"So, now what?" Riku asked as he and Hans walked down the dungeon's hallway.

Hans sighed. "We should tell the people of Arendelle the truth," he said. "After that… I don't know."

Sven (with Kristoff and Anna astride), Sora, Goofy, and Kairi ran down the mountain, while Olaf sledded through the snow on his belly. Goofy stayed ahead, hollering if Heartless appeared so that he, Sora and Kairi would dispose of them before they could slow Sven down, while Kairi kept to the rear for a similar purpose.

Anna shivered in Kristoff's arms. Kristoff put his hat over her head to add some extra insulation. Sora moved in closer and placed his hand on Anna's arm, using magic to warm her up for a few seconds.

"Just hang in there," Kristoff said encouragingly. He then gave Sven a pat on the neck. "Come on, buddy, faster!"

Soon, they reached the bottom of the mountain and ran into Arendelle. Mickey, who had been on a roof keeping a lookout, announced their approach for the guards and civilians who were still outside.

Olaf veered out of control and slid off into town. "I'll meet you guys at the castle!" he shouted back.

"Stay out of sight, Olaf!" Kristoff advised.

"I will!" The scream of fright that followed a moment later suggested that he failed to do so, however.

They charged through town and skidded to a stop at the castle's gates. Kristoff climbed off of Sven, carrying Anna.

"Are you g-gonna be okay?" Anna stammered, acting as though she was not the one who was in trouble.

Kristoff smiled. "Don't worry about me," he assured her.

The gates opened, and they were greeted by three servants, who had been alerted to their arrival by guards on lookout. Kristoff set Anna down and passed her off to the servants. "Get her warm, and find Prince Hans immediately," he instructed.

"We will. Thank you," one of the servants said.

Aqua appeared and beckoned the group in. Sora, Kairi and Goofy stepped through the gates, but Kristoff and Sven stayed outside.

"Make sure she's safe," Kristoff said. He watched the servants take Anna to safety until the gates closed. He stood there for a moment longer, wishing that he could be by Anna's side, wishing that he could do more. But he told himself that he had done all that he could, and all that he needed to do, so he turned to leave. Sven protested, wishing the same, but eventually relented and followed his friend out of Arendelle.

Hans entered the parlor, joining a group of dignitaries, one of whom was the Duke of Weselton. Riku followed him in, shooting a glare at the Duke as he entered.

"I'm going back out to look for Princess Anna," Hans declared.

"You cannot risk going out there again!" one of the dignitaries protested.

"He's right. The storm's only getting worse. Besides, she'll be back any minute," Riku assured him. "As long as she's with Sora, she'll be perfectly fine."

"If anything happens to her—"

"If anything happens to the princess, you are all Arendelle has left," another dignitary reminded Hans.

This gave Hans pause. Anna had left him in charge, after all. He registered just how much the people of Arendelle and its visitors had come to depend on him.

The servants led Anna into the parlor, drawing everyone's attention. "Anna!" Hans ran over and pulled her into his arms. "You're so cold," he noted with concern.

"Hans, you have to kiss me," Anna pleaded.

"What?" Hans asked, confused.

The dignitaries traded glances and decided it would be wise to leave. "We'll give you two some privacy," one of the servants said. Riku followed the servants and dignitaries out and joined Sora, Kairi, Goofy, and Aqua, and the door was closed behind them, leaving Anna and Hans alone.

"What happened out there?" Hans asked.

"Elsa struck me with her powers," Anna answered.

"You said she'd never hurt you," Hans recalled, shocked at the development.

"I was wrong," Anna lamented. She crumpled, weak from the cold curse. Hans picked her up and carried her to the couch. "She froze my heart, and only an act of true love can save me," she explained.

Hans processed this information and realized what she had meant a moment before. "A true love's kiss." He stroked her cheek. She smiled, believing that it would work, and they both closed their eyes as he tilted her head up by the chin. He leaned in to kiss her, then stopped an inch away from her lips. He opened his eyes and smiled, without any of the kindness that he had displayed before. Anna opened her eyes, confused as to why he was not kissing her. "Oh, Anna. If only there was someone out there who loved you," he said mockingly. He stood up and walked away from her.

Anna was frozen in shock for a moment, stunned by what he had said. She turned her head to follow him as he approached the window. "Y-You said you did," she said, shivering.

Hans smirked at his reflection in the glass, then drew the curtains closed. "As thirteenth in line to my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance. I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere," he explained.

"Wh-What are you talking about?" Anna asked. Something had changed with him. He was exuding a coldness that was palpable even to someone who was actually freezing to death.

Hans pinched the candle flame, extinguishing it. "As heir, Elsa was preferable, of course. But no one was getting anywhere with her. But you, you were so desperate for love that you were willing to marry me just like that!" he continued. He grabbed a pitcher of water from a table and poured it into the fireplace. "I figured, after we married, I'd have to stage a little 'accident' for Elsa."

"Hans! No, stop!" Anna pleaded, tumbling off of the couch. She watched as the last of the fire, the last source of soothing heat in the room, died out.

"But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her." Hans chuckled. "Now, all that's left is to kill Elsa and bring back summer."

"You're no match for Elsa," Anna spat.

Hans stooped down and tilted her chin up. "No, you're no match for Elsa." Anna rolled her head off of his hand in disgust. "I, on the other hand, am the hero who is going to save Arendelle from destruction." He stood back up and walked to the door and opened it.

"You won't get away with this," Anna growled.

Hans simply smiled back at her and shrugged. "I already have," he retorted. He closed the door behind him and locked it.

Using a chair for support, Anna pulled herself to her feet and ran to the doors. She tried to open both, but to no avail. "Please. Somebody, help," she begged, but she was too weak to shout for anyone to hear her. She collapsed, shivering profusely as the rest of her hair turned white.

Hans walked away from the parlor, slowing his pace and shifting himself to display sorrow, as he left to break the bad news to everyone. Unbeknownst to him, a Shadow Heartless stood several feet behind him and watched him go. It was confused as it saw a change in his aura. As he stepped out of the parlor, it could detect darkness radiating off of him. But as he shifted his pace and posture, the darkness vanished. Curious as to how he was able to conceal his darkness, the Heartless would continue to watch from a distance, in hopes that an answer would present itself.