Frozen III: Zenith

Chapter 9

The horse, carrying Hans, who is restraining Anna, stops in its tracks just before Elsa's ice palace.
"What do you want from me?!" Anna demands to know.
"Well, if we're found," Hans explains, "I can use you as leverage. No one will get close to you, so I'll use you as a shield. Not literally, I'm not that bad."
He ties Anna's arms and legs, then ropes her against a tall, thin rock facing the castle. Behind her back, he puts a rope around her hands, keeping the backs of them against the rock.
"And now," Hans tells the horse, "I can't have you running away or warning any guests, so, well..."
"You're going to kill a horse?!" Anna expresses her dismay.
"I've been willing to kill people," Hans replies, hilariously pushing the horse off the edge of the cliff. "A horse won't stand between me and complete revenge."
The ground shakes with the stomps of a behemoth.
"Ah, yes," Hans reacts. "I forgot about that. Stay here, I'll just be a moment."
Hans draws his sword and runs to the bottom of the staircase. Ahead is an army of Snowgies in front of Marshmallow, ready to defend their home against the aggressor.
The Snowgies, screaming in their high-pitched voices, run down the staircase. Hans sweeps them off the mountain and down the canyon with his sword, and kicks a few off, as well. Within seconds, the small snowmen are gone, and the big one remains. Roaring with fury Marshmallow jumps the staircase. Hans is ready, and, in the same manner as five years before, cuts Marshmallow's right leg off. This time, however, he goes further, amputating the left leg, as well. Marshmallow quickly falls, and Hans pushes him by the remaining snow legs off the mountain.
"There," he says to himself. "You can't rebuild that snowman."
"How did you find out about my parents?!" Anna yells at him.
"It's simple, really," Hans replies. "Sneak into the castle, learn where everything is, and find information in the archives that will hurt people."
"You're a monster," Anna accuses.
"Maybe," Hans agrees, "but a really good one."
Hans walks to the edge of a cliff, around which anyone who wants to visit the ice palace must pass. Anna cannot see him, or any newcomers, without really turning her head back and to the right. Hans is in position; now he just has to wait for his prey.
*~*~*~*
Hours pass. Kristoff and Jack, at approximately four in the morning, near the ice castle as the Northern Lights dance in the night sky.
"They couldn't have gone much farther," Kristoff guesses as the boys advance towards the waiting Hans.
"Are you sure they went this way?" Jack asks.
"They had to have," Kristoff replies. "This is the only place in these mountains Hans knows how to navigate. I think."
"We're taking an awful risk," Jack comments.
"But it's the best risk at the moment," Kristoff ends the conversation.
The last words are detected by Hans, who slowly pulls his sword out from its place at his right hip.
"It's just around here," Kristoff says as he comes within feet of Hans.
Anna hears him.
"Kristoff, it's an ambush!" She calls, just in the nick of time.
As Hans swings, Kristoff jumps backwards. Hans gets all coat, creating a large tear in Kristoff's clothing. Hans strikes again, his greed for revenge propelling his arms. As Kristoff jumps backwards, and accidentally onto Jack, Hans's sword hits rocky cliff wall and becomes stuck. Kristoff gets up and pulls Jack to his feet, running to help Anna, and jumping over Hans's outstretched foot with the intention to trip while trying to dislodge his weapon.
"Kristoff, untie me!" Anna begs as Kristoff and Jack run to her.
"What did she think you were going to do?" Jack quietly asks Kristoff.
"Probably make a hot cup of tea or something," Kristoff repsonds.
"I can hear you," Anna informs them.
Speedily, the boys untie the ropes, freeing Anna.
"Now," Anna says, "let's go get that son of a b--"
"It's free!" Jack notices Hans pulls his sword out of the rocks and starts running for the three.
"Hurry," Kristoff commands. "Into the castle."
Anna, Kristoff, and Jack walk quickly up the staircase, walking to keep balance on the ice.
While running to the stairs, Hans bends down and throws a large volume of snow to the stairs to use to plant his feet. He skips lower steps as the trio enter and locks the castle. Hans runs up the rest of the stairs, almost slipping once, and he kicks in the doors. Waiting against the wall on either side of the gates are Kristoff and Jack. Because they are behind the open-inward doors, Hans cannot see them. He looks around, slowly advancing.
Once he has crossed the length of the open doors, Kristoff and Jack run at Hans. He hears them, and he turns and thrusts his sword into Kristoff's stomach as he ducks under Jack. Kristoff falls to the ground, covering his wound. Jack gets down to attend to him.
"Get... Hans..." Kristoff says weakly. "One of us can live."
From the balcony, Anna leaps over the railing and into the snow in front of the staircase. She sees Hans inside.
"Hey, Hans!" She calls, getting the attention on herself. "Come and get me!"
Hans turns and sees Anna. Suddenly, his sword is struck from behind. It is now covered in ice.
"Leave her alone," Jack tells Hans, setting his feet to prepare for a fight.
"She's not going anywhere," Hans predicts. "I'll take care of you easily."
Hans and Jack charge each other, the sword and staff clanging metallically upon contact. The two fighters slide across the ice away from each other. From afar, Jack sends ice over Kristoff's wound, providing temporary relief.
"You think I'm going to kill him?" Hans responds. "I want him to suffer. I want all of you to suffer."
Hans and Jack run at each other again, this time not sliding past each other. Their weapons hit and strike, Jack's staff emitting ice in random directions when impacted. Five strikes. Six. Less than five seconds feels like an eternity. Neither fighter can gain the upper hand as the weaponry continues to meet.
Ten seconds, eleven. Fast, furious fighting. Suddenly, Hans gains the upper hand, stabbing Jack as he did Kristoff. However, this stab goes through Jack's staff, breaking it in two.
"No!" Anna calls, having seen the action unfold from below. Hans just laughs as Anna starts running up the staircase.
"A three-for-one special," Hans says to himself. "You can't beat that."
He runs down the staircase and meets up with Anna, who quickly turns around and jumps back down.
"Survive, Anna!" Kristoff calls from inside the castle.
Jack reaches for his staff weakly, just now noticing its fracture. He knows it will not work, and all he can do is wait.
Anna starts running for the path that she had tried to climb past years before. Hans, however, catches up to her quickly, swinging his sword for her head. She ducks to avoid it, falling to the snow in her efforts. Hans tries to jab his sword into her heart, but she rolls to her side to avoid it, and starts moving backwards, basically crab-walking. Hans follows her, his sword pointed at her. Clouds cover the Northern Lights, and snow begins to come down as the wind makes its presence known. Hans backs Anna against one of the many large rocks on the mountain range. She is sitting against the rock now, held in place by Hans's pointed sword.
"You don't know how long I've waited for this!" Hans proclaims. "And I'm going to make you suffer."
Anna winces and leans as far back as she can against the rock, knowing the worst, and last, is about to come. One second passes. Two seconds. It feels like an eternity.
Instead of raising his sword, Hans jabs it forwards, intending to do to Anna what he did to Kristoff and Jack. Anna ducks to the left. Hans misses. He then attempts to do the same thing. Anna responds by quickly moving back to where she had just been pinned, avoiding the weaponry.
"You're feisty, I'll give you that," Hans says to Anna.
"I'll do what I have to," Anna replies.
Slowly, Hans moves his pointed sword at Anna. She tries to duck to the right, but he puts his sword where she wanted to go at neck-level. Anna tries to go left, but Hans blocks her again. He puts the tip of the blade within inches, within an inch, of Anna's neck. She holds her head up as high as she can, trying to distance herself from the sword.
"You really just can't give up, can you?" Hans chuckles.
Without warrant, he puts his foot on Anna's right leg, pushing it at an angle to the ground. After a painful moment, Anna falls to the side, loudly grunting in pain.
"How shall we do this?" Hans wonders. "I'll let you go free if you give me what I want. Interrupt or try to stop me, and you're dead. Do you understand, 'queen'?"
Anna does not respond. Rather, she musters what strength she can, and sits back up against the rock, hardly moving her right leg, if at all.
Hans infers agreement and puts his sword's blade at Anna's neck again, the blade within half of an inch of it.
"I want money," Hans begins. "Lots of it. All you have. I want your land. The fjord, the mountains, down to the last slime-covered toadstool. And I want your position. Make me king of Arendelle. Or I will take the more... historically traditional route."
Again, Anna keeps her silence.
"Fine," Hans says. "You asked for it."
Anna's hair, which she has tied into dual braids, is undone by Hans's sword. Cutting just above the ties, Anna's hair is cut, and is now maybe three-fourths of its original length.
"Don't look so mad," Hans sees Anna's anger. "It's a good look for you."
"I can live without my hair," she responds through clenched teeth.
"That is true," Hans acknowledges. "But can you live without blood?"
He puts his sword in its sheath on his belt and pulls from an inner coat pocket-- the pockets of evil, evidently-- an old-fashioned pistol.
"What's that?" Anna asks, scared and trembling."
"The end," Hans replies. He fires the pistol, shooting Anna on her right side, an inch or two above her waist. She falls on her side to try to cover the wound.
"You... bi--" she retaliates.
"Save it," Hans shrugs. "I know your insult, and I've been called worse. By, say, your sister."
Anna grunts. "Elsa?"
"Those errands in the bakery? Those were for me. I proposed we could take over the world together, what with her power and my mind. I offered a second meeting, which she came to, I can only presume to find out about power, what with the fate of the world resting on her shoulders. I played her for the fool she is, got on her good side. And that's not even the best part. I kissed her."
"You son of a--"
"Relax, you already said that. I knew that if I got on her good side, she wouldn't kill me. I struck a chord with her, related to her about her lonely past that you caused."
Tears start rolling down Anna's face. "That's not true," she protests.
"Anyway," Hans continues, "I snuck into the castle and learned where the dungeon was. Figured I might snoop around and learn some dirt to make your life worse. I guess it worked."
"It's a lie," Anna manages to say, starting to become pale.
"Then, I put myself in a vulnerable position during the battle. I got Elsa's attention, letting Arendelle gain the upper hand. As you can see, it didn't work out. My original plan didn't work out. I would've poisoned you and watched from a distance, but this is--" Hans chuckles-- "so much more gratifying."
Anna's breathing starts to slowly become lethargic.
"Don't worry," Hans says. "I'll put you out of your misery."
He raises his sword to deliver the final blow. Anna closes her eyes tightly and turns her head. As Hans's sword gets closer and closer to her neck, Anna's life flashes before her eyes: being hit by Elsa, falling for Hans, meeting Kristoff, being struck by Elsa again, Olaf saving her, entering the Enchanted Forest, boating past the Earth Giants, almost falling off the dam, Kristoff's proposal, seeing Elsa's bracelet, learning about her adoption, and controlling Arendelle's fire. Now, it feels, all for nothing. Surely, Kristoff and Jack are dying, if they have not already gone. And now, she is about to die. Hans's sword gets closer. Within a foot. Eight inches. Six. Four. Three. Two. One.
Suddenly, the sword stops within half an inch of her neck. She reluctantly opens her eyes to see what happened. The weapon, still held by Hans, is encased in ice, as is its wielder. Anna looks up and sees Elsa, having just come around the rock before the opening in front of the staircase.
"Anna, are you okay?!" Elsa runs to help her sister. She gets down by Anna and turns her over, who groans in weakness at movement. Elsa looks worriedly at Anna's wound.
"Elsa..." Anna says weakly, "Kristoff and Jack are in the castle. They need you. They're also--"
Anna whimpers and puts her left hand over her wound.
"No, no, no, no, Anna," Elsa says. "You're not dying. Not on my watch."
Elsa puts her hand under Anna's and spreads ice over the cut. Anna smiles weakly.
"The cold feels good," she reports.
"Anna, are you going to die?" Elsa asks.
"Not now," Anna manages to say weakly. "Go help the boys."
"Anna, I'm not leaving you."
"Elsa, I'm begging. Go. Help them."
"Elsa?!" Jack calls from inside the castle.
"Elsa. Please," Anna goes on.
"I'll be right back," Elsa assures, quickly ascending the castle stairs. Once she is inside, she sees Jack, laying on the surface right in front of her.
"Oh, Jack," Elsa gets down by him.
"Ice. Wound," Jack manages to say.
Elsa sees what he means and puts ice over his wound.
"Leave me now," Jack commands.
"Jack--"
"Elsa, I'm going to be fine. Check Kristoff and Anna. Is she okay?"
"I don't know," Elsa cannot give a definite response.
"I'm fine for now," Kristoff affirms, getting up slowly. "Go to Anna."
Elsa obeys and returns back to Anna, who is unmoved since Elsa left her.
"Anna..." Elsa whispers to herself, holding Anna close to her as the latter drifts on the cusp of consciousness. Quietly, Elsa reprises "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?":
"Anna. You are almost gone now.
It's because I was too slow.
I needed to be there for you,
To rescue you,
Please. I can't let you go.
Just give me one more chance
To not shut you out.
Don't let it end this way."
She starts crying a little. "Do you want to build a snowman?"
"Elsa--" Anna draws a shallow breath.
"Don't talk, Anna," Elsa commands. "The boys'll be out in a minute."
"Arendelle's yours," Anna says quickly, her head falling lifelessly to gravity.
"Anna, wake up," Elsa commands in a panic. "Please, wake up, wake up, no, no, no, no, no, no, Anna. Anna!"
No response.
"Anna," Elsa whispers to herself, holding Anna's body close and crying into Anna's hair.
From afar, ethereal diamonds, four of them, float through the air at breakneck speed up the North Mountain. They slow down as they approach Elsa and Anna. The diamonds, colored blue, red, brown, and white, descend onto Anna's lifeless hands and absorb into nothing.
Kristoff and Jack stumble out of the castle.
"Anna!" Kristoff calls down the steps. "Are you okay?"
Elsa ignores him.
"Elsa, what happened?" Kristoff presses the matter, hobbling down the stairs to Elsa.
"She's gone," Elsa cries.
"Wait, what?" Kristoff brings Anna to himself, expressionless in shock. "Please, please, no," he says lowly.
Suddenly, the backs of Anna's hands glow, and Anna wakes up, taking a deep breath.
"Anna?!" Elsa can hardly believe it.
"It's okay," Kristoff assures Anna, hugging her tightly.
"I'm not," Anna contradicts. "I need medical attention. I'm like ninety-nine percent sure he broke my leg, and I don't feel so good."
"We'll get you what you need," Kristoff still has Anna in his arms.
*~*~*~*
Inside the castle, which is the one building still standing, Anna is in bed, carefully reading a journal. Each line more intense than the last, Anna cannot believe the words on the paper. But she has to. This journal was written by her father. But how could she trust him when he kept such a big secret from her? She reads for hours, all sorts of questions jumping about in her head.
As she closes the journal, looking up contemplatively, a knock is heard on the door.
"Who cares about danger when there's love?" Elsa asks from the other side.
"Come in," Anna consents.
Elsa opens the door and walks in. The blue streak is still in her hair, and will be for the rest of her life. "Are you feeling okay?" She asks Anna. "Olaf and, like, three other doctors didn't think you'd be up for a while."
"Yeah," Anna confirms. "I'm okay."
"You'll need to be in bed for several weeks, on top of the two you've already spent." Elsa reports. "Hans got you pretty good. They say you lost a lot of blood."
"That's fine," Anna agrees. "It's not like being queen is hard. The advisors do sixty-five percent of stuff, anyway."
"What did he use anyway, a cannon?" Elsa asks.
"I have no idea," Anna rejects. "I'd never seen anything like it."
"What about your leg?" Elsa checks.
"Eh. It still hurts," Anna conveys. "But it's not as bad as it has been. It'll get better."
"Were you able to learn anything about your parents?" Elsa wonders.
"A lot," Anna responds. "A lot. Sit down, let me tell you."
As Anna talks, Elsa pictures everything in her mind, taking everything her sister tells her as truth.
"My parents," Anna begins, "were leaders of a cult called the Righteous Fire. They knew that Arendelle was coming back, so they tried to warn your parents."
"Our parents," Elsa corrects.
"Let me finish," Anna goes on. "Our parents wouldn't have an audience with them because they thought they were all a bunch of crazies. So, the Righteous Fire started burning buildings to get our parents to notice. They kidnapped people, rioted, stole from the castle. Finally, Father consented to hearing them. They said that they possessed the power to control Hellion fire. How, I don't know. But anyway, Father still wouldn't listen to them, so he talked with Grandpabby. Grandpabby said what they were saying was true, and that the Trolls were keeping Arendelle underground and that he wasn't a problem. Father trusted the Trolls, so he had all of the Righteous Fire killed for acts of treason.
"But later, when Father and Mother were going through my birth parents' house, they found me, tucked away in a closet with a note that said that they passed all the Righteous Fire's power into me so I could use it when the time came. So, they adopted me, seeing I needed a home and to keep anyone from knowing about my powers and the legacy of the Righteous Fire. Father talked to Grandpabby about my powers, and he said they would kind of go away over time if I didn't use them. But a part of me would always have them. So, to keep me safe from anyone still mad about the Righteous Fire, and because I needed a family, they took me in and had Grandpabby cast a spell over Arendelle so no one would remember who I was or where I came from besides Father and Mother."
A silence hangs over the room as Anna finishes the story.
"Anna," Elsa breaks the quiet, "I went back to Ahtohallan. On the night of the battle. I heard a baby crying, and I heard Father through fire. I didn't know what it meant, till now. I want you to know that, regardless of where you came from, you're still my sister."
"I know," Anna smiles. "And you're mine. Besides, you've thought I was your whole life."
"That's because you are," Elsa confirms.
"And that makes you a Skylark," Anna goes on. She sighs, repeating, "Skylark."
"Miss Elsa," Kai, standing in the doorway, addresses Elsa. "I'm sorry to barge in, but some man downstairs says he needs you to see him immediately."
"I'll be back," Elsa tells Anna. "Don't go anywhere."
"I really can't," Anna replies.
Elsa goes downstairs and opens the gates to the evening courtyard. Jack stands solemnly, holding a ring, the same color as Elsa's bracelet.
"Elsa," Jack begins, "I love you, and this whole apocalypse made me realize that I can't live without you. I want us to be together forever. Will you marry me?" He gets down one knee.
"Depends," Elsa responds sarcastically. "Kristoff, what do you think?"
Kristoff looks up, surprised. He is playing chess with Olaf against Sven in the corner. "Wait, what?" Kristoff never expected to be called on like that.
"Should I marry him?" Elsa asks again.
"Well, Jack and I would be brothers," Kristoff tries to convince Elsa to say 'yes.'
Elsa turns to face Jack. "Yes," she says, running to her fiancée. Jack puts the ring on the finger that all rings go onto and they kiss.
"Welcome," Olaf begins dramatically, "to the beginning of the rest of your life."
"I like how you said 'life'," Jack compliments Olaf.
"And if this is the beginning," Elsa tells Jack, "then we've got the perfect life ahead of us."
"What's going on?!" Anna calls from an open window.
"She said 'yes'!" Jack yells back.
Anna shrieks. "Let me see the ring!"
"I'll be back," Elsa tells Jack, running into the castle.
*~*~*~*
The moon shines over Arendelle. Every room in the castle is full of beds for people to sleep in. Most are asleep, except in one room, where two are wide awake. Anna and Kristoff are sitting up in bed, eating dessert.
"I didn't know you could cook," Anna tells Kristoff, as she finishes the last bite of pie.
"Just a little recipe I had saved for the right occasion," Kristoff says.
Anna giggles.
"Kristoff," she begins, "I think you picked the perfect occasion."
"Well, yeah," Kristoff agrees. "We just won a huge fight, Elsa and Jack are getting married, and we're all going to be okay. How's your leg?"
"Good enough," Anna confirms. "Just, like, six or seven weeks and it'll be good as new."
"You know how we say we'd die for each other?" Kristoff asks. "I didn't think we'd really have to go through with all that."
"No kidding," Anna agrees. "But I'd do it all again."
"Me, too."
They kiss, not really passionately, but more of a good night kiss.
"'Night, Anna," Kristoff says, rolling over to sleep.
Anna lays down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. To the tune of "Reindeers are Better than People," she sings quietly:
"For the first time in forever,
I can sleep, and I'm safe and sound.
With Kristoff and Elsa,
Sven, Jack, and Olaf.
It feels like all is found."
*~*~*~*