Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter 33: Breaking Point

Author's Commentary:

Just a warning and heads up for the slightly more sensitive readers. It gets a little grittier than usual. But not to worry, there are no overtly mature elements or anything of the sort. Nothing explicit, so don't worry.

ELSA

The night in and of itself had been a nightmare. No matter how she tossed or turned or curled up, she could not find a comfortable position to fall asleep in. What was she thinking? Comfort? This is a dungeon, after all.

Then again, it could have been the nerves. Anticipation of the torture Hans would inflict on her in the morning kept her on edge throughout most of the night. What did the cunning, cold hearted psychopath have in mind?

However, when she did manage to fall asleep, all she had gotten were short bouts of dreams about her sister. Waking up alone in a forgotten wasteland, being defenceless against the wild animals and getting torn apart. And of Janus too, lying with his back broken in some pit waiting to die alone. What little sleep she had managed to grasp ended right there, and she had jolted awake, only to find it impossible to fall back asleep.

At last, morning came, though it was far from a relief for Elsa. She hadn't the slightest idea of what lay in store for her, but it certainly couldn't be good. Not with the sadistic Hans involved.

The steel door of her cell was unlocked and in lumbered a pair of soldiers, followed by Hans. One of the guards handed him a blindfold and he gave a brief nod of acknowledgement. Hans said something fluently in what sounded like the Exonian language and shooed the two soldiers away.

"Good morning, Elsa." Hans said as he walked towards her. "I hope you had a good sleep, because you won't be getting much rest today."

"Am I not at least entitled breakfast first?" she tried to mimic the same air of casualness in his voice, glancing at the blindfold in his hand.

"I don't think you understand what's happening here." Hans said, straightening out the blindfold in his hand. "But don't worry, you'll catch on pretty quickly. Get up."

The next part that came was pretty much a blur. She wasn't very sure if she had finally managed to fall asleep or if she had been rendered unconscious. But the next thing she knew, she was no longer in the cold, damp cell. The blindfold was forcefully ripped off and light flooded in, blinding her temporarily.

Elsa blinked in a daze, taking a minute to adjust to her new surroundings which were terribly bright. When her vision cleared, she saw that Hans was standing beside a black stallion with a wide-brimmed hat resting atop his head. He'd even stolen her tinted glasses to shade his eyes from the unforgiving sun.

As for her surroundings, she looked round in confusion, her eyes narrowed to a slit to prevent the sunlight from blinding her any further. They were standing out in the middle of a wide, never ending stretch of brown. It was all just rocks and sand for what seemed like miles, and there was not a spot of green amongst them, and it was uncomfortably warm.

Elsa frowned. "Where are we?"

"Not one of Eleanor's 'other worlds', if that's what you're wondering." Hans said. "She's a little fanatical about the whole magic and reality warping thing sometimes. But I can't deny that a little teleportation trick here and there makes things a lot more convenient."

"Then where is this?"

"What does it look like, Elsa?" Hans waved a hand at the vast landscape. "A desert. Somewhere nice and warm away from the cold climates of our region."

"I don't get it. Why this?"

Hans cocked his head as if he was the one who didn't understand. "Aren't you feeling a little, I don't know, warm perhaps?"

It was definitely hot. She tugged a little at the collar of her blouse, perspiration beginning to bead around her neck.

"A normal human won't last very long out there, much less an icy witch who lives off the cold. And with your powers neutralised," he tapped the cuffs on her wrists. "Your icy biology isn't going to enjoy this. You'll die. Slowly and painfully. And I'll be here every step of the way to remind you that you're just a sip of water away from death." He chugged water from a brown canteen. "We've got a long way to go, so we should get started."

"If you think I'm going to follow you out into the desert to my own death, you're truly insane." Elsa stared at him incredulously. "What makes you think I'll go along willingly?"

"Because," Hans tucked the canteen away securely in a pouch on his horse and casually pulled out a pistol from his belt. "If you don't, I'll shoot your legs, tie a rope around your waist and drag you through the desert myself. Or would you prefer that?"

Elsa narrowed her eyes and fixed him with the full force of her glare. The fiend had thought of everything. "Why are you wasting my time with this?"

"We'll see if its still a waste of your time when we're out there crossing the desert." He kept the pistol and expertly mounted his horse. "Shall we?"

###

There they began their long journey into the great plain beyond. At first the sun which hung above their heads had been just a mere annoyance. Or at least to Elsa. Hans was safely tucked under the comfort of his wide brimmed hat and had a canteen full of water that was guaranteed to last him at least a day or two.

As for Elsa, the heat grew more and more unbearable with each passing minute. The sun hung high in the sky, refusing to move. And to make matters worse, there was not a single cloud in the sky to tamper the wrath of the sun. Her pale skin took the full brunt of the punishment without any shelter, and she continued to trudge on, determined to prove Hans wrong: that she could survive this.

Lifting her hand to shield her eyes, she forgot that one hand was still cuffed to the other, and the chains rattled when they went taut. Sighing softly in annoyance, Elsa lifted both hands to her face where she wiped big drops of sweat from her face and shielded the top of her eyes to get a clearer picture of how long more they had till the end.

"We've got a long way to go." Hans laughed, almost as if he knew what she had been thinking. "Don't tell me you're giving up now. We've barely started."

Elsa gave a soft groan, hoping that Hans didn't hear her. She couldn't help herself. The heat was absolutely unbearable. She was beginning to see why Hans had chosen this method of torture for her. Being a regular human out in the middle of the desert was bad enough, but being a sorceress who pretty much lived off the cold? Hans had found a way to turn her icy biology from a strength into a weakness. Through the inescapable heat, her blood boiled. The man was a sadist.

Still, it didn't stop him from enjoying the journey. As he sat comfortably on his mount, he gazed out into the wide-spread horizon of never ending brown, seeming to find something out there interesting. All the while, he periodically took little sips of water and even used some to cool himself off. He was dressed in a white cotton shirt with the top button undone and his sleeves folded neatly to his elbows.

What she would give to be dressed in something less stifling. Elsa hadn't known that she would be out marching for miles on end in the desert, and was dressed in a dark blue blouse made out of material meant for spring weather. The black leggings and boots she was wearing weren't exactly for hiking either, and her feet were beginning to ache very badly. She'd rolled up the sleeves of her blouse all the way to air her arms, but it didn't help much to cool her off.

How much longer can I stand this? Elsa blinked, feeling a little lightheaded. She had long since given up wiping away the sweat which beaded her face. Her undershirt was damp, even soaked, making her chest and back itch uncomfortably in several spots.

But no matter how she felt, she knew she couldn't give Hans the satisfaction of knowing that she had begun to cave. No, she just had to hold on for as long as she could and hope that he would give up after realising that she wasn't going to drop dead.

Hans glanced at her without a word and smiled. He was obviously enjoying every single moment this.

After what seemed like hours, he finally stopped and dismounted. He waited patiently for Elsa to catch up. In the beginning she had been able to keep her pace level with that of Hans' stallion, but over the course of the march, she had fallen behind considerably, and was now staggering behind by quite a distance.

And then she couldn't take another step. Her legs wobbled beneath her and she collapsed, the side of her face hitting the smooth sand. The sand heated up by the sun scorched her body, but she was too tired to even flinch. The dehydration was really beginning to take its toll on her body, as was what Hans had intended with this death march.

"Still think I'm wasting your time?" Hans guided his mount over to where Elsa laid.

Too drained to give him any notice, she rolled onto her back and looked up at the blue sky, breathing hard. Her aching head felt like it was going to explode, and her body quivered in exhaustion, hunger and dehydration. Her clothes stuck to her skin uncomfortably, and her skin felt parched and in addition were horribly sunburnt and dry.

Her lips were so devoid of moisture and cracked that she was sure that if she had the strength to lick them, they would just crumble and fall off. Not that she had any moisture left in her mouth for her tongue to leverage on for that matter. She would do anything for a drop of water, anything except beg her captor for it.

"You look like you could use a drink." Hans removed his canteen from the pouch. He crouched down beside her and undid the cap, holding it above her face. "Would you like some water?"

Elsa just breathed, staring up at him with dry eyes and barely able to speak.

Laughing, he tilted the canteen and splashed some water in her face, and it magically did something to revive her a little. He tipped the canteen and allowed water to trickle down her neck, and Elsa gasped in relief at the feeling of the water seemingly melting away the heat.

The lukewarm water was like a godsend, and for a brief moment, it brought a little relief from the unforgiving sun, but nowhere near enough. She knew the truth though, that it was only prolonging the inevitable, and she was sure Hans knew that.

"Better?" he closed the lid of the canteen.

"Why don't…you…" Elsa managed to croak. "…just…kill me?"

"No, not yet." Hans regarded her with the laughing eyes of a wolf. "You haven't suffered enough."

"Or maybe…you just don't… have the guts," Elsa forced a smile which brought a bout of dull pain to her face. "You're…too much of a coward…to kill me yourself."

He paused as if to consider his options, and then instead of retaliating with force, he very gently tapped her parched cheek which was now turning red from the heat.

"Nice try, making me lose my temper." He smiled calmly. "But that won't save you. No, no, no, you don't get to die that easily."

Grabbing her arm, Hans mercilessly yanked her to her wobbling feet, forcing her to stand and gave her a violent shove, almost causing her to tumble down face first into the sand again. "Keep walking. I'm not finished with you yet."

They went on for what felt like a few more hours, until Elsa was barely lucid. She was seeing hallucinations, visions of Anna, Janus, and the rest of her friends…even her parents. Maybe this really was what dying felt like. Her pale skin was now quite unrecognisable and dry like a bone, having been scorched relentlessly by the sweltering, undying sun. Her eyes fluttered a couple of times and she gave a soft groan before buckling under the weight of her own body.

Elsa slumped motionlessly against the sand, and her last action was to tug a little at the collar of her blouse in a bid to get a little more air. Not that it did any good. Her hand fell limply by her side, her chest heaving so subtly and her breath so shallow that it was almost as good as her already being dead.

Hans knelt beside her and pulled out a pocket watch. "Nine hours. I'll admit, I'm impressed. I really thought you would give out much sooner. You're stronger than I gave you credit for, but that's not going to save you."

When he saw that her eyes were closing, he grabbed her and shook her roughly like a rag doll. "No, Elsa, you don't get to fall asleep on me now. Not before I'm done with you," He whispered. "In answer to your earlier question, no, I'm not afraid to finish the job myself."

Dropping her, Hans pulled out his pistol and loaded it. He pressed the muzzle gently against Elsa's chest, though she barely flinched under her exhaustion. Her blue eyes were glazed over and unresponsive. "I would much rather use a blade to prolong your suffering a little longer, but I'm afraid you might just pass out on me, and where would be the fun in that? I need you to look me in the eye as you fade away into oblivion. I guess we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way."

He cocked the weapon and his finger rested snugly on the trigger. "Goodbye, Elsa. Things could have gone so differently for us both but sadly, this is the end for you."

Before he could pull the trigger, there was another bright flash of light. But as far as Elsa could tell, in the half-alive state she was in, it wasn't the sun. It had a tint of…purple. Distracted, Hans looked up and was hurled away a short distance, having been hit squarely in the chest by the purplish aura of light. The pistol fell away somewhere, buried beneath the luscious sand. And then there was silence.

Elsa wanted to raise her head off the ground but found that she could not. Instead, she lay on the sun-baked sand, taking great pains to breathe with whatever effort she had left. Resigning to her fate, she closed her eyes. Whether Hans himself was going to pull the trigger and kill her or not didn't really seem to matter anymore. She was already dying anyway.

"Hey! No, no, no! Don't go to sleep!"

Elsa felt a small heap of sand push lightly against her arm as someone slid and knelt beside her in a hurry. She half-opened her heavy eyelids to see a silhouette of a familiar girl kneeling beside her, the sun bearing down and obscuring her already blurry sight. Was this yet another hallucination?

"Elsa! You have no idea how hard it was to find you. Don't you dare die on me!" She heard the distant ringing voice of someone who sounded somewhat like Tracy. "Listen to me, you're safe now. Just hold on! I'm gonna get you out of here."

Author's Commentary:

I'll be honest, this was really tough to write. The idea for the torture came from a very old film actually, and I simply expanded upon that.

It was hard to imagine Elsa going through such suffering as she's one of my favourite fictional characters of all time, and having Hans almost break her in his own sadistic way was really rough. It was painful to put my favourite heroine through such a rough time, but this whole chapter was designed to push Elsa to her breaking point both mentally and physically, as the name of the chapter suggests.

But of course, the whole point is to see how she bounces back from this. She will confront Hans again later in the story and we'll see how she gets justice.