Anna had tried pleading, reasoning, then kicking, squirming and even biting. None of this had had any effect on the Ice Warrior who carried her across the corridors. They eventually reached another room occupied by a large machine connected to three sarcophagi, and some Ice Warriors lying on the floor, inert. As she was marched closer, Anna saw that the sarcophagi contained Ice Warriors.
"Listen," she tried once more, addressing the Dalek who had been following them, "you don't have to kill people just because you think they are inferior to you. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm a tiny bit superior to worms, and I don't go squashing them all the time! Or bugs. Except mosquitoes, because they make this annoying noise and sting you, but even so I try to let them out if I can. Couldn't you let me out? I promise I'd not come back to remind you how inferior I am!"
The Dalek ignored her and glided toward the machine. It placed its arm that ended with some kind of inverted bowl on a small sphere that adorned the large apparatus.
"CONVERSION IS COMPLETE," it intoned. "PREPARE FOR THE NEXT BATCH."
The sarcophagi, which Anna was trying very hard not to think of as glass coffins, slowly opened. The Ice Warriors lying inside sat up in one perfectly synchronised movement. Still trying the occasional useless struggle, Anna watched with horrified fascination as they slowly got out of their couches while the horrible metal stick slowly forced its way out of their foreheads. It had completely extended by the time they had finished getting up. The Ice Warriors stood motionless for a second, then turned and, with the same automaton walk, stomped out of the room.
"LOAD THE NEW BATCH," the Dalek intoned.
"Wait, wait, wait," Anna shouted, frantically trying to escape the arms holding her. "That's not what you are going to do to me, right? I'm… I'm not an Ice Warrior! I don't want to be a puppet! No, please, listen, I'll be completely useless to you, I'm, I'm not as strong as the Ice Warriors, I won't be a good puppet, no, please, no, please! Elsa! Help me! Doctor! Kristoff! Olaf! Anyone! Help me!"
Ignoring her struggles, the Ice Warriors placed her inside one of the sarcophagi. Anna felt something clamp around her wrists and ankles, holding her in place. She screamed as she saw the glass lid slowly descend on her, sealing her in.
"Elsa! Elsa!" Anna screamed at the top of her lungs. "Help me! Help me! Please! Kristoff! Doctor! Olaf! Help! I don't want to be a puppet! Elsa! Help me! Please!"
But all she could see through the glass lid were the impassible faces of the Ice Warriors who had brought her here and the blue glow from the sticks in their foreheads, and a total absence of anyone coming to her rescue. As she tried to struggle against her restraints she felt a sudden lethargy gaining her. She tried to scream, but only a gurgle escaped her lips. She was sleepy, and the fact that she was lying down was not helping. She gave one last desperate pull on her wrists before sleep engulfed her.
But it was not exactly sleep. It was more like the kind of torpor she slid into when she was running a fever, restless, full of disturbing dreams and nightmares, but still preventing her from fully waking up. As she fought to stay awake, Anna felt the slab on which she was lying dissolve, to be replaced by the mattress of her own bed, then by a blanket of snow, then the mossy ground. Images flashed through her mind, which she desperately tried to ignore as she willed her eyes to stay open. But it was a hopeless battle. The images filled her view, while her mind seemed to fill with wool.
She opened her eyes and sat up in her bed. It was wrong, she knew. She was not supposed to be in her bed. She was supposed… well, she had no idea where she was supposed to be. Something important had just happened, but she had forgotten why. Maybe another dream? She hated this bed.
Anna scrambled out of her bed and crashed on the floor. She was back in her room in the castle she hated that castle and the sun was shining through the open windows. She hated the sun.
No, that was not right, Anna thought as she fumbled for her slippers. She loved the sun. She loved the castle, and she loved being in bed, maybe a little too much. What kind of nightmare had she been having? She hated nightmares. Well, yes, that one was true.
She was walking through the castle, and across the town, waving at the people. She hated this town, she hated these stupid people. No, that was not right. What was happening to her?
She needed to see Elsa. Someone she loved. She hated she loved Elsa. Or Kristoff. She hated loved Kristoff. Or Olaf. Elsa would make she hated everything all right.
Faces scrolled in front of her. There was Oaken she hated Oaken no, she liked Oaken. There were her parents. They were dead she hated but she loved them dearly, she hated loved their memories. She needed to see Elsa, something was not right, she hated she wanted to see her beloved sister, and everything would be all right.
She ran up the stairs, and the mountain, toward Elsa's room, in her ice palace she hated that palace. She called her sister's name as she walked across corridors filled with snow. She caught a glimpse of Elsa she hated, who turned away. She tried to call out to her, but Elsa ran away. She was never there when you needed her something was wrong with Elsa too, maybe all of this was a dream. Anna stumbled through corridors and stairs and paths she hated those, trying to find someone, trying to find Elsa. But everywhere she looked people ran away from her she hated them and did not listen to her. Maybe all of this was a dream, and she should wake up, and everything would be back to normal again. She hated them no she did not hate anyone, no matter what they did to her.
"I don't hate anyone!" she shouted, as much for herself as for drowning this constant, invasive thought that insisted that she should hate everything.
She tried to wake up once more, but the corridor of the castle remained firmly around her. But her voice had reminded her of something – she knew she had recently said she did not want to be something. There was a memory of… puppets?
She ran back to her room through the silent corridors she hated these corridors. She remembered that she had to stay awake, and definitely did not want to be a puppet she hated puppets.
"I don't hate anything!" she shouted again as she entered her room.
"Yes, you do," said her reflection on the large mirror above her dressing table. "You hate everyone."
"That's not true! I love everyone! You got it all wrong!"
"Why would you? They all hate you. They scorn you. They never tell you anything important. They think you are a stupid airhead," her reflection said with a nasty smile.
"That's completely stupid!" Anna shouted back. "Everybody loves me."
"Your sister froze your heart," her reflection stated calmly. "She tried to kill you. You should hate her."
"She didn't do it on purpose! I will never hate her! I will never hate anyone!"
"Even someone who tried to kill you?" the other Anna said with a smirk. She was now out of the mirror, standing next to her in the room while the walls crumbled around her.
"Why would anyone try to kill me? Whatever, it must have been a misunderstanding," Anna countered, trying to think of a more specific example and failing. There was one, she knew…
"Hans, for instance," the other Anna said, stepping aside.
"Hans?" Anna said, her memories of that despicable individual returning suddenly. "Yes, I don't like him. But he's…"
"Oh, my dear Anna, if only there was someone out there to love you."
Hans was suddenly there, hunched over her with a sadistic smile. He was snuffing out candles while brandishing a sword over Elsa. She hated Hans. Anna tried to stop him and punch him, but he simply stepped away, still smirking. She hated hated that smug smile of his. She hated hated him. She punched him and managed to hit him, but he kept smiling in that condescending expression of his. She punched again, and again, and again. She hated Hans. She hated his smile. She hated everything about him.
"Oh my dear Anna," said Hans from her side. He was wearing the clothes of an ice harvester, like Kristoff she hated Hans. She punched him, but he kept sniggering, as he drove his sled, Kristoff's sled she hated Kristoff, and she punched Hans, and punched Kristoff, she hated Kristoff, no, that was not right, she loved hated hated hated Kristoff.
"There is no one out there who loves you," Hans said, sauntering at her side, giggling. Anna punched his head again, punched his stupid carrot nose until it flew out of the other side of his head, she hated Hans poor Olaf had lost this carrot nose, she hated this nose, she hated Olaf she punched Hans again, and Kristoff again, and Olaf again, she hated them no she loved them, but not Hans, she hated Hans, and she hated Kristoff and she hated Olaf, NO!
"I… I don't hate!" she said as loud as she could, but suddenly it was not much.
"Go away, Anna," said Hans's mocking voice. This time he wore a gorgeous blue dress rustling on the ground, and was looking at her with mocking eyes under his blond hair tied in a long braid.
"No," Anna said. "Not you. I don't hate you. I… I…" She backed up, turned and ran.
"You love me, I know. But I don't love you," said Hans, flicking a speck of dust from his leather jacket. He was riding on Hans, who was effortlessly keeping up with her and brayed derisively. "He does not love you either," Hans said in a ridiculous voice.
"Nobody loves you," said Hans, standing in the sled pulled by Hans and putting back his carrot nose in place.
"And I find you annoying," said Hans, slamming the door to her room in her face.
Anna tried to turn and flee, but she was unable to move now. Everywhere she looked, Hans was there. Selling strange contraptions in his trading post, and mocking her. Smirking at her from the portrait on the wall, with Hans at his side, informing her that she was a stupid little girl. Sitting on the throne, and notifying her calmly that she had to leave at once because she was not wanted any more. Dancing through the ice palace, and telling her he wanted to kill her. Presenting her with a birthday cake and singing that she was an idiot nobody could love. Sweeping up the floor while sniggering with contempt. Stepping out of a blue Hans adorned with insults, his sonic screwdriver whistling with a shrill sound that meant she was an idiot. Holding her in his arms while standing on the frozen fjord, and telling her that he hated her.
"I hate you too!" she yelled.
And she punched him, and punched him again. She punched and punched and punched wherever she saw Hans and screamed that she hated him. She struck Hans as he cleaned the floor of the castle, and she kept hitting Gerda. She kicked the large Hans who was manning the trading post, and kicked Oaken again. She slapped Hans who was cutting the ice, and kept slapping Kristoff. She punched the stupid snow Hans, and punched Olaf. She wanted to punch him again and again, however he looked, and that was not enough exterminate she would have to punch him so that he never got up again.
Punching was not enough. She wanted to exterminate do more than hurt Hans. She wanted to exterminate do more than hurt those she hated.
She hated Hans.
She hated them all.
Exterminate.
Exterminate.
Elsa stumbled again, but managed to stay upright. She forced herself forward, pushing one leg after the other. Her shoes had finally given up on her, and their remains were lying somewhere at the bottom of a canyon. Her feet caked with red mud hurt as she walked on the rocky ground, but she was now too exhausted to try avoiding sharp rocks. She had managed to keep Anna's cape draped around her during her mad flight, which was a good thing since her dress was now in complete tatters.
She was completely, utterly lost. For a while she had run as fast as she could, as long as it was at the bottom of canyons that seemed to lead away from the Dalek ship. When she had dared walking back to higher ground, she had been relieved to see that there were neither Daleks nor Ice Warriors in sight wherever she looked, but her relief had slowly made way to fear as she had realised that there was nothing she recognised anywhere she looked either. The one landmark she could identify was, as always, the enormous shape of the giant volcano in the distance, but it was too far and too large to be used for orientation.
She had kept walking despite it all, since the alternative was to sit somewhere and wait to be found, and hope the people doing the finding would not be the Daleks or their servants. She had wandered aimlessly, always moving forward, not unlike when she had fled through the mountains on the day of her coronation although walking had been much easier then. She had thought of using the sun – which was half as big as on Earth, she noticed only now - to get her bearings, but it was useless. They had taken so many turns when coming here that she had no idea what the correct direction to the Ice Warrior base was. And she could not even decide whether she wanted to go back to the Ice Warriors or to the Dalek ship instead. She could probably find some rest and maybe some help in the base, and Olaf would be a welcome sight, but she felt uncomfortable at the idea that Anna could still be stuck on the Dalek ship, or possibly hidden somewhere else, waiting for her.
While she walked the shadows had lengthened and the sky had darkened, much more quickly than what she was used to when night fell at home. She had seen the first stars appear in the sky, and idly wondered whether Earth was among them and how it would look like. It would make sense that it could be seen from Mars since Mars could be seen from Earth, after all.
She fought another wave of dizziness. They were getting closer and closer, along with a growing tiredness and bouts of headache. She had never suspected she was that out of shape. Sure, she had run a lot, but after all she had also been much lighter. Yet she had been feeling out of breath for a while.
She stumbled once again and steadied herself against a rock to fight a wave of nausea. She tried to gather her wits while absent-mindedly surveying the darkening landscape for anything she could recognise - the Ice Warrior base, the TARDIS, the hill hiding the Dalek ship, or possibly the Arendelle castle. Her head ached again, and she remembered at last that around her the air was much thinner, and that this could apparently bring all sorts of ailments to unprepared people. But the Doctor had provided them with a pill against that, right? How long had he said it would last? Right now she could only remember he had hoped they would have left long before its effects ended. But had he factored in an encounter with the Ice Warriors and getting drawn into the conflict with these horrible Daleks? Hadn't he also said something about overexerting?
Forcing herself to walk again, Elsa tried to remember what the Doctor had said about the effects of the thin air. The one thing she could bring up was that they would pass soon if one could reach a thicker atmosphere, but this was not an option here. She was pretty sure that the Doctor had also talked about headaches and dizziness, and that it would be getting worse. Maybe her extreme fatigue was another symptom.
She kept moving forward, vaguely remembering that it was something you had to do in the mountains. It had to do with cold, which normally did not bother her, but since she had lost her powers she could not be sure of anything, even if right now she was feeling rather warm. She was pretty sure there was something about not feeling cold being the proof that cold was getting to you.
Something flickered at the edge of her field of vision. She turned to discover her ice castle standing on the side of the path she had been walking. She focused incredulously on it, and found herself looking at a pile of red rocks, shining under the setting sun. She trudged up to them despite all, and laid a hand on the closest one. It was definitely a rock, grainy and lukewarm to the touch.
Her eyes were closing by themselves. New images surged on the landscape around her, which vanished as soon as she forced her eyelids open, to be replaced by the desolate red landscape. Elsa was reminded of her untimely fever during Anna's birthday. Just like then, she had felt about to fall asleep on her feet, with dreams appearing to her as soon as she closed her eyes, and sometimes even before that. The difference was that she had been at home with her beloved Anna taking care of her, not lost on a desolate planet, far from anybody she loved, with her feet aching and her powers gone.
"Anna…" she whispered, trying to stay upright.
Her ears were ringing. Images flickered again, dancing across the landscape whenever she blinked. There was Olaf chasing a butterfly. Sven pulling Kristoff's sled. Anna smiling at her.
"Anna… where are you, sis?" Elsa said, trying to keep herself awake with the sound of her own voice. Walking was not an option any more. Simply staying upright was now monopolising most of her strength.
The ringing in her ears amplified. Elsa blinked again, and saw more images floating in her vision. This time they did not entirely disappear when she opened her eyes. She had to concentrate on each of them until they faded into a pile of rocks or a ridge in the sand.
There was an image of Anna walking forward, her cape flapping in the wind behind her. Elsa did not have the strength to concentrate on this one as well. Even though she knew it was probably a hallucination, the sight of her sister gave her strength. She took a tentative step toward her.
"Anna…" she called plaintively.
Her ears were still ringing, but now the ringing was turning into sounds. Anna was still walking resolutely forward, not quite toward her. Elsa tried stumbling into her direction. For a second there was no Anna, only an empty, red plain, while the ringing in her ears rose further, turning into some deranged music played by a mad orchestra. Elsa blinked, clinging to the image of her sister, and was rewarded with another image of Anna, marching on the red ground, a fierce expression on her face.
"Anna… I'm here," Elsa wheezed.
The music she was hallucinating changed, gaining some harmony, becoming a lifting, sweeping symphony played by a hidden orchestra, on a tune Elsa had hummed to herself once, alone in her ice castle. She felt like dancing and singing herself, even if her exhausted state allowed neither. And then, it was the image of Anna who began to sing as she kept marching without seeming to actually move.
The embers grow cold, the room is empty
Another door closed to me
No help no love no compassion
As it always had to be
"Anna…" Elsa called weakly, mustering all her strength for another step toward her sister. But Anna did not seem to hear her, and her step did not bring Elsa any closer to her.
Nobody ever cared how I'm feeling inside
Give them what they need, put my pain aside
Always smiling, always happy
Be the nice girl they all want to see
Play by yourself, just love and wait
Now it's too late
Anna raised her fists to the sky, pirouetting on her feet. Elsa managed to take another step toward her sister, but Anna remained tantalisingly out of reach.
Let me hate, let me hate
At last I will walk that way
Let me hate, let me hate
That's the role I want to play
I don't care what you're going to say
Let me hate you now
Love only brought me pain anyway
Anna's flowing cape seemed to fade into the dark sky. Elsa tried to take another step, but her knees buckled under her. She collapsed, trying to call her sister, in a voice so weak even herself could not hear it.
At least a feeling that gives me strength to bear it all
Why pretend to smile after another betrayal
Hate offers me another way
I won't forgive I'll make them pay
My rage will rise and swell until
I kill
Shapes rose in the darkness behind Anna, of impossible buildings, rising toward the sky where strange objects flew. Elsa tried to crawl forward, one hand stretched toward her sister who kept singing, her lovely face distorted in an unfocused expression of disgust.
Let me hate, let me hate
The time for revenge has begun
Let me hate, let me hate
You won't get up after I'm done
This ends now this is my way
Let them fear me now
The shapes of buildings seemed to collapse and burst into flames. Anna was standing, with her fists raised, her fierce gaze fixed in the distance. Elsa's arm, on which she was supporting herself, gave way and she sprawled on the ground, one arm still outstretched toward the image of her sister.
My rage burns bright I will kill everything I see
Why should I like them when they are so different from me
There are no innocents, all enemies in disguise
I must stop them now, I'll make no compromise
Anna grabbed her braids and rolled them into small buns on either side of her head.
"Anna…" Elsa called weakly one last time, her eyes fixed on her sister.
Let me hate, let me hate
I'm ready to exterminate
The small buns on Anna's head seemed to flash from some kind of inner light at each syllable she sang. She slowly turned over herself, her dress flowing gently into a conical shape. The decorations adorning it seemed to bulge outward, causing small spheres to appear all over it.
Let me hate, let me hate
They're all enemies I know
I will not hesitate
Let them fear me now
Love only brought me pain anyway
Anna pirouetted on her heels and turned her back to Elsa.
Elsa's vision blurred and gently faded into complete darkness as her eyes finally closed.
Author's Notes: I have sometimes wondered if my main incentive in writing Frozen fanfiction was to put the sisters through the most despairing situation I could think of (I mean, I'm writing them as Doctor Who companions, that's saying something). Then again, this is more or less what happens to them in the movies.
I usually tend to ignore the songs when I'm writing Frozen fanfictions. But one day I began hollering "Exterminate, exterminate" in the shower to the tune of Let it go, and I knew I had to work this in this story. It also convinced me I should avoid trying this again, as it is much harder to write lyrics when you are not using your own language and have zero ability at poetry to start with anyway.