Merry Christmas :) fellow fanfic lovers.
I know I am considerably late. You see I got a new job and it's quite demanding.
You know the drill, the more comments the sooner I try to upload another chapter.
AN: as some of you had already noticed this chapter has been divided in parts. And before you ask, yes this is the next chapter (just roll with it)
Disclaimer: Frozen and other Disney characters belongs to Disney Co.
Chapter 23. Nightmare Before Christmas PART I
"This is not happening." She muttered to herself. "It cannot be true."
Everything seemed to be happening so fast. People from all social classes and ages were running in circles not sure what to do or where to go. Families were leaving their houses, some holding small children, the others carrying what they could save of their precious belongings.
The ones attending the Winter Festival were trying to find the rest of their families and friends. Soldiers and civilian's volunteers working together in gathering the people to a safer place. From afar, the Captain of the Royal Guard commanding in loud tone everyone with uniform; giving orders to take people out of the buildings, to gather supplies and he himself was in the water gathering unit.
From behind, the Princess Olaf and other royals were letting the affected people take shelter inside the castle grounds. The staff, guided by Kai and Gerda, was giving the new guests blankets and anything possible to aid them. Inside the castle at the Great Hall a provisionary hospital was settled to attend those who had been hurt.
Everything was chaos. As far as she could see, the fire was concentrated mostly in the Christmas Fair, located at the centre of downtown. All those months of preparation and enthusiasm of the merchants turned into ashes in seconds.
Speaking of seconds, it did not take long for the flames, those big red and enormous massive destroyers, to reach the nearest buildings. In a few seconds a third part of downtown was filled with flames, smoke and screams. Oh, the screams!
She could deal with fire, but the sound of her people being scared and the sight of their pale faces was something she was not prepared for.
"ELSA! Hey, are you listening?!"
The Queen snapped out of her trance. It was then she noticed Kristoff had literally shaken her by the arms.
"I, I..." She started. "What?"
"Your Majesty, is this man bothering you?" asked one of the guards near them. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I am fine. He is my friend." The Queen explained, as she found easier to breath the longer she focused on her words and not the screams. "Look, I know Captain Jorgen asked you to follow me and act as my secret bodyguard…"
"Your Majesty the Captain didn't…"
"Leave it pal," added Kristoff quickly. "We don't have time for this. Just leave already."
"But…" the guard hesitated.
"Look," Elsa insisted again, trying to focus at the task on hand and blocking her mind and heart. But just at that moment fate decided to let her see the image of two guards carrying in stretcher a small body covered in a white blanket.
The blond paused for a second or two to recover her senses, then looked at the guard trying to sound as Queenly as she could. "You are given a new order. Go back to the Castle and find Princess Anna. You are now under any command she tells you and aid her in anything you can. And you are not to leave her side by any costs. Am I being clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty. Right on Your Majesty." And the guard saluted and left as fast as his heavy sword allowed him to move.
"Let's go." Yelled Kristoff as he started trotting not even waiting for the Queen's answer.
Elsa followed behind as she cursed in her mind. If it weren't for her stopping suddenly by hearing those screams, they would have already arrived to their destination.
"You do realize you just dismissed your bodyguard and assigned him as Anna's bodyguard?" Kristoff asked suddenly as Elsa was running at his level. "She is gonna be mad when she learns your true intentions."
"You mean, IF she ever learns the truth." Elsa shot a quick menacing look at her sister's boyfriend.
"My lips are closed." He commented quickly as they reached an old cabin.
Before Kristoff could even knock, the door opened abruptly letting very manly men appear from inside.
"Kristoff what's all the fuss?" asked one of the men with a pronounced beard. We were about to go have dinner when we saw the smoke."
"Sir," Elsa spoke quickly "We are still unaware of the causes of it, but now we need to cease the fire before it reaches all Arendelle."
"Your Majesty?!" said the bearded man as he took his hat in a quick manner of respect.
"Leave formalities for later Klaus, we need every ice harvester's help. Quickly." Kristoff said.
"Tell your men to gather all snow you can and round all the endangered houses with it, before the fire reaches more buildings." Started Elsa. "In case you face the flames do not engage. Focus on protecting the undamaged buildings."
"Sorry Your Majesty but we will fight the fire!" the bearded man demanded angrily. "We have people we care that could be in danger there."
"As we all do," Kristoff insisted.
"Nonsense!" Said another ice harvester.
"Time's running out guys!" Kristoff answered back. "Besides the firefighters are already working on it!"
"There are not enough firefighters for this!" yelled a young ice harvester. "I have family there!"
"You can't tell us what to do Kristoff!" said another voice.
"No, but I can!" said Elsa not even trying to pretend her commanding voice. "This is not a game gentlemen. This an order from your Queen. You are to do the task you have been assigned as good servers of your people. You shall do what it is right and I repeat, avoid the flames at all costs. Is that understood?" She gave them the coldest look she could.
"Yes ma'm!" they all yelled at the same time. Everyone looked surprised for the sudden change of the Queen, except Kristoff who was smiling proudly.
"And one more thing. Kristoff I leave you in charge of the ice harvest unit." She said as Kristoff gave her a questioning look.
"Wait, you are not coming with us?"
"No." she answered shortly.
"Then what are going to do?" Kristoff asked concerned.
"They are right, there are not enough firefighters for a magnitude of this fire." She said quickly as she gave a turn and started running.
"Wait, you mean… Elsa? …ELSA WAIT!"
But she didn't stop and Kristoff didn't follow her either.
Running in high heels won't take you far, Your Majesty. An imaginary Derek popped in her mind. He was giving her that annoying smirk.
Elsa cursed her own imagination as it betrayed her. He was the last person she wanted to think about in the moment. There's a fire in Arendelle. Ice happens to be solid water. And she happens to be the only person in the Kingdom that can shoot ice at will.
But no, oh no. Instead of working on a good strategy for ceasing the fire her brain decides it is a good time to remember that idiot.
She shook her head as she tried to focus on the nearest building with fire on the roof.
Concentrate in the moment Elsa! Stop the fire! She forced herself.
Not with high heels! Echoed the voice of the annoying Prince.
"FINE!" The Queen yelled out loud, gaining some curious looks from the people she was passing by. She gave a quick swirl with her hands and her high heels were turned into flat ice shoes, gaining even more looks from the crowd and guards in the area.
She never stopped running as her feet felt more comfortable shoes. She stopped at the first house in fire.
Elsa thanked her father for passing her his hobby in architecture for it would be easier to stop the flames taking in consideration the structure and construction characteristics of the building. She had to be very careful not to freeze the columns and joints that kept the house standing. And she had to focus in suffocating the fire, water was not the one that would make the flames disappear, but removing the oxygen from the equation. At least all those years and years reading science books were worth something.
Only the flames…. Don't hurt anybody….
She heard more screams but this time they sounded like coming from afar. She was back in a state of trance.
"Only the flames." she repeated out loud as a blast of cold fresh snow shot from her hands and covered the building almost completely in white.
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How long has it been?
An hour, two? Ten minutes?
Elsa could not tell for how long she has been conjuring snow and ice all around Arendelle. Not a single time she stopped. It surprised her how easy it took her to learn to ignore the looks people were giving her. She couldn't tell if people were screaming or cheering at her. It didn't matter really.
Everyone was working hard and the fire was yet to be ceased.
She reached the centre of town, the Christmas Fair, or what was left of it. The Captain of the Royal Guard approached her as he saw the Queen.
"Your Majesty what are you…?" He asked panting. The man's face and uniform all covered in dirt and smoke.
"Later Captain." She cut him shortly as she also tried to recover her breath, gaining some coughs from the remaining smoke.
"Your orders Your Majesty?" he asked nodding with his head. Later Elsa could process this would be the first time the man would shut up so quickly.
"I need the area to be clear of people Captain. And I mean civilians and your troop too." She said without any more explanation. "Tell the firefighters to stand in the corners of the fire."
"Right on Your Majesty." He saluted quickly with his hand not leaving protocol behind and turned to army subordinates.
"You heard the Queen soldiers! Move on!"
"Yes Sir!" yelled the voices of the people in uniform.
Elsa didn't realize until now they had all been paying attention to her.
In record time, the soldiers had rescued and evacuated everyone from the Christmas Fair. And not even waiting for another question from Captain Jorgen, Elsa approached the flames to stand in level with the firefighters. Some of them acknowledged her presence, but mostly everyone was focused in the big hot flames in front of them.
Elsa took the deepest breaths she could and closed her eyes for a second or two.
Only the flames…. Suffocate them…. Don't hurt anyone…
The Queen opened her eyes and conjured a big snowflake above the Fair place. Then she made the ice formation transform into a big mass of snow. It was heavy, she could sense it -somehow- but she didn't care and conjured the mass to gain even more mass. The layer of snow was so big it casted a shadow from the moonlight over the area and the nearest buildings.
And she dropped it abruptly over the flames, suffocating it. As soon as it happened hot vapor was released provoking the firefighters and herself cover their faces. Elsa should have expected that temperature reaction but in the heat of the moment she forgot.
"Heat of the moment", get it?
Ignoring again the imaginary Derek in her mind, Elsa stomped almost angrily her right foot and conjured a thick wall of ice protecting the firefighters and herself from the vapor.
The flames from the Christmas Fair were completely gone. But they couldn't stop just yet. There were still few houses that the flames had managed to reach before Elsa could stop them.
Not even giving any commands to the Captain or the firefighters they all ran to the remaining houses. As she passed by remnants of the Christmas Fair, she tried to bury her feelings of sorry for all the hard work everyone had done turned to ashes, but she couldn't. She tried to ignore the empty spot where the Christmas tree used to be, but she couldn't. Some shops managed to survive the fire but were almost destroyed. She tried not to feel a whole in her stomach when she recognized among those shops, the flower's cart from that old lady that gave her a flower, but she couldn't. Her magic had managed to save the bridge of the park but it looked highly damaged. She tried to ignore the mixture of feelings she was having as she remembered not many nights ago, she had made a deeper connection with Derek in that same bridge. But as the bridge was, that connection was also damaged now. That might not be avoided either but it would have to wait for later. She had more important things to care about than her own drama.
"Your call Your Majesty." called Captain Jorgen as they reached the remaining houses with flames.
Elsa turned to face the tall man.
"You know what to do Captain." She said as she prepared herself for more.
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They reached the last building, or at least the last menacing building. The firefighters with the help of the army and ice harvesters commanded by Kristoff, were dealing with the minor spots of flames. It was the General Hospital of Arendelle.
The Hospital was not that big. Only three stories and only the first floor was on fire since most of it was made of stone. Yet, Elsa's senses were telling her the structure would not support any more damage before it collapses.
The Queen saw as doctors, nurses and patients were guided in groups by soldiers to the Castle shelter were Anna and the staff were dealing their own battles.
Captain Jorgen whistled and suddenly, a man in uniform approached them and saluted them both.
"Your Majesty, Sir," he said.
"Quick report Sergeant." The Captain saluted back.
"Yes Sir. The Hospital has been evacuated completely." The Sergeant explained quickly "We were given a list and everyone in the list has been registered safe and sound sir. We wait for orders Your Majesty, Sir."
"You sure Sergeant?" insisted Elsa giving a quick glimpse at the Hospital where the second building started to show smoke from the windows now. "Because that building will not support any longer."
"Yes, Your Majesty." The young solider said. "We registered for tonight's shift, three doctors in guard, two nurses, five adult patients, one boy with a broken arm, and six new born babies. All male."
"Excellent Sergeant. Now gather your soldiers and stay away from the building." The Captain said.
"Wait…" Elsa said suddenly. Did you say all the babies were male?"
"Uhm, Yes Your Majesty. Six baby boys were at the nursing room." The solider explained as he checked a list he was holding in his hand. "You can see the list yourself if you want."
The Queen took the list and read.
"Oi! We need some help here!" yelled a soldier who was having trouble pushing an old man in his wheelchair.
"We are coming!" yelled Captain Jorgen. "Come on Sergeant. Your Majesty we wait for instructions!"
They left the Queen but she wasn't listening. Her eyes fixed on the list of patients.
"Something's wrong…." Elsa said as her mind started to work fully. She had been reading that same day the list of new born babies. And she could swear there was a baby girl at the end of the list.
The sound of the building cracking walls alarmed everyone to look at it. All except Elsa, who by a strange force she never felt before ran to the Hospital not caring how the inner voice in her mind what she was doing was followed by a hunch.
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Elsa couldn't see a thing with all that smoke. Maybe the first floor was not covered in flames yet but the lights from the candles were gone. Not to mention how hard it was getting to breath.
She tried to remember where was the Nursing room but couldn't. She would have to find it the old way. Luckily there were not many rooms in the first floor, and even more lucky it was, when she found on her fifth try the Nursing room.
As soon as she entered she saw it. Elsa couldn't know if her mother's instinct was kicking in or maybe it was mere luck but her heart and mind urged her to go the middle crib in the room. And there she was, covered in a pink blanket a baby girl with cherry blond hair. It reminded her of Anna. Elsa took her out of her crib and then the baby woke up and started crying.
In other circumstances Elsa, would have panicked but she was so relief that the baby was alive she held it in a hug. The baby did calm a bit which brought the first smile to the Queen's lips since the fire started. Wrong! She had stopped smiling ever since the last time she saw Derek.
She turned around as the building started to shake dangerously which brought her instincts to alert once again. She could relax once she took the baby to a safe place. She covered the face of the baby with the blanket and added a thin layer of frost to it so that she wouldn't breath that much smoke and feel so much heat.
She hugged the baby to her chest with her right hand as she left her right hand free in case she would bump into any obstacle. And took a step.
CRASH!
The wooden roof literally fell inches from where she had been standing just a few minutes before. She watched in horror as the door and only exit had been covered in wooded boards and stone. And if her luck couldn't be worse the floor was now in flames.
She cursed her luck, but at least she had a free hand. She raised her hand and made the hand motion to produce ice. But the ice didn't respond as she wanted. Instead of shooting a blast of snow, pikes were shot from her powers, where the larger ones hit the structure of one of the columns causing even more roof remnants to fall over her now nonexistent exit.
"What's wrong?!" She pleaded as she tried to shot another time but this time it was even worse than before.
As a chain reaction, her magic conjured even more bigger pikes damaging the structure of the building. And almost at the same time her body felt like all her energy was taken from her. It hurt, but she couldn't tell what or where it hurt. But it did. It was a different kind of pain, like a physical pain but so different.
The baby started crying again, and Elsa could feel her legs not responding to move. All herself hurt. The smoke was getting higher so she kneeled, the baby could get poisoned by breathing that smoke. Elsa crawled to a safer spot near the column of the building.
The walls shrieked and shook. It was a warning that time was running out, and that soon enough the Hospital would fall over their heads. She focused again and tried one more time to shot another blast door. The result was the same as before. The peaks came again and then the pain. It was like if air itself was being removed from her lungs. But she was still breathing and her chest did hurt but probably caused by all that running and the smoke.
The baby started to struggle trying to take of the blanket from its mouth.
"Keep it please," Elsa tried to talk to the baby girl as she held her. "Shhh…I promise nothing will happen to you. I'll protect you….Shhhh…"
Urged by another natural sense she brought the baby even closer to her chest and started to rock it softly.
She could hear then voices and screams from outside. She thought her name had been yelled, but she couldn't be sure. Her energy felt almost gone but she wouldn't let go of the baby. And as the roof trembled above her and the flames approached her more and more she gathered all her last energies to protect the baby.
Elsa pictured what she wanted in her mind and ignoring the pain that followed a spherical shield made of an ice covered her and the baby. Although this time her powers did work as it should, the layer was thinner that she expected, it wouldn't help much.
"So, this is how it is then?" The Queen asked to no one in particular.
She couldn't hear the voices from outside anymore; also, the sound of the cracking fire and the ceiling collapsing couldn't be heard either. Only the soft breathing of the baby who had fallen asleep again and the sound of her own heartbeat.
"I'm sorry," she apologized to the sleeping baby. "I'm really…really sorry… Please forgive me…" That last use of her magic had completely drained her. She couldn't even apologize properly and even shed a tear.
She hugged the baby closer as pieces of wood fell over the ice sphere. Elsa closed her eyes.
Slices of her life played in her mind reaching today's.
Faces of her parents, Kristoff, Kai, Gerda, Olaf, Marshmallow and all the snowgies, her relatives in Corona, King Friederik's telling another embarrassing story of her father's youth, then she saw him….
Elsa felt another pain in her chest, this one of a completely different kind. Why did they had to fight just today? Why?
"I'm sorry Derek." She apologized to the air.
And then the face of Anna.
"Oh, Anna…" she mumbled ignoring the other wooden board falling and hitting the ice sphere.
Happy birthday Elsa…. Anna's voice echoed in her mind. She could see it all clearly now. All the events of today, her birthday, the Winter Festival, all of it playing in her mind.
There was a voice calling her. And was her mind playing her games or had she heard a male's laughter too? Maybe it was all her imagination. Was there a difference? Not really.
Her eyes closed again as her name was heard once again and again.
"Elsa…" it said the voice.
"Elsa…Elsa..." There it was again. More louder now.
A loud sound followed by a strong tremble came from outside the ice bubble. She opened her eyes. This was it. The building was finally collapsing. Everything was on fire, falling and in chaos.
And then it was all black.
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Tadaaaaa!….so, how was it? Let me know what you think and if you are linking this so far?