Frozen III: Zenith

Chapter 8

Kristoff sees the fire spreading near him. He dives into the water as the flames swallow the bricks he was just standing on.
"Kristoff, help me out!" Anna begs, talking as if not underwater.
Kristoff, holding his breath, puts one arm around Anna and swims up with the other. As he breaches the surface, Anna slips downward from his grasp.
"It's no use," he tells Anna, his voice muffled to her by the water.
"I have to get out," Anna explains. "I have to help Elsa."
"Anna, let me," Kristoff pleads. "Clearly, you're not going anywhere."
"But, Kristoff--"
Kristoff jumps back onto Arendellian land. He looks ahead, and, a few blocks down, Elsa is sending snow into the fire with hand and snow at Arendelle with the other.
"Elsa!" Kristoff calls.
She does not respond.
A coughing sound is heard on Kristoff's right. He runs to investigate.
"Help..." a voice begs weakly.
Cautiously and speedily, Kristoff moves broken bricks and wood out of the way, digging out an ash-covered Jack.
"Is Elsa okay?" Jack asks, coughing, as Kristoff pulls him to his feet.
"I saw, and I can't answer that," Kristoff replies.
*~*~*~*
"I've got to get out of here," Anna tells herself. "I can control Hellion fire. What does that mean? No time to think. Water, let me out!"
By speaking nothing, the water refutes Anna.
"Let's work together," Anna bargains. "You left the Enchanted Forest to help Elsa. You put out the fire, and I find a way to control it. Something's got to happen."
The water responds by bringing Anna upwards. Finally, she breaks the surface and the water elevates her on the back of the water horse, her shadow on the water illuminated by the moon.
"Let's go help Elsa," Anna calmly tells the horse.
They jump onto the surface of Arendelle, running through the streets next to the fire. Whatever the horse runs by is temporarily put out, but gradually reignites once in the rear-view mirror.
"Control Hellion fire," Anna commands herself. "How?"
She puts her hand out at the fire, hoping for something to happen. Nothing does. She puts her right hand farther out, holding onto the horse with her left. She almost falls off, but regains her balance.
Unexpectedly, the fire lizard zips up the horse and onto Anna's outstretched hand.
"Not now," Anna tells it.
The lizard responds by stamping a foot on Anna's hand. For a split-second, a magical second, Anna's veins on her arms glow a medium purple, then fade as quickly as they came. She puts her hand out again and closes her eyes. In a moment of calm, a moment of tranquility amidst the commotion, Anna's trembling fingers rise slowly in the air. A small portion of the fire rises correspondingly, separating from the rest of the flames. Anna opens her eyes and sees what she is doing. Confused at how she is doing it, and why, yet happy she can, she throws her arm back at the fjord, hurling the flames into the water. For the first time, she gets what it means to control Hellion fire: literally control it. She notices something different about the removal of the flames. Where she moved the inferno from, no fire re-sparks. It is gone, like an air bubble protecting all inside it from everything on the outside. Anna feels herself smiling, proud at herself and relieved she can offer Elsa some much-needed relief.
"Elsa!" Anna calls, throwing more fire into the sea as the water horse rides onward.
Elsa is still multitasking Arendelle and, well, Arendelle.
"Trust me!" Anna commands. "Focus on the Hellion! I've got the fire!"
Elsa concentrates both her hands at the Hellion, who is still absorbing her snow and ice as Anna continues throwing fire into the sea. The doubled intensity of twice as much power surprises Arendelle. He pushes fire at Elsa, and two bursts of power, one snowy and one fiery, meet in midair, hanging, as it seems, for eternity. Neither gaining the upper hand, the two continue their push. Elsa's eyebrows arch with determination to win the battle. She grimaces, the exertion of power getting to her. Arendelle grins evilly at Elsa's pain.
"Give up!" He yells at her. "You'll never be powerful enough!"
"No...!" Elsa responds, pushing harder. "I've got... the Elements!"
Howling and screeching, the wind spirals around Arendelle, pushing him in all directions. Like a tree strongly rooted in the ground, he sways, but does not fall, keeping his fire in Elsa's direction. The earth opens from underneath him; he starts falling down a seemingly endless hole. However, he kicks off the walls and jumps back up to the top, landing on the other side of the village, and sending more fire at Elsa. She counters this capably with another blast of snowy power. She runs at him. Both stop their advances of their respective powers and start individual strikes, almost as if sending pilots into anti-aircraft zones. Elsa sends a blast of power at Arendelle's left, which he swiftly destroys with fire. He sends another shot at Elsa, which gets close to her. Fortunately, she encases it in ice, stopping in her tracks a couple blocks away. She begins shooting ice and snow, alternating with each hand, at Arendelle in rapid-fire succession. He meets with the same, easily countering each mini-attack from the tiny human below. Every blast of power Elsa sends at Arendelle is absorbed by heat.
Anna and the water horse finish putting out the fire as Anna throws the last ball of flames into the fjord. The water horse evaporates, and Arendelle is now a pile of rubbish and ash, chopped planks and broken bricks in piles where homes and businesses used to stand. Now everyone can see Arendelle strongly countering everything Elsa throws at him.
The wind tries to hit Arendelle again, this time moving much more swiftly. He struggles to maintain his balance, stopping fire with one hand to balance himself. While the wind is blowing, the earth starts shaking under him. He falls, all his fire stopping. Elsa sends ice at him, striking him in the heart. For the first time, he groans in pain, a sensation he has not felt in millennia, if at all.
"Give up or I'm going to kill you," Elsa threatens.
"Give up?" Arendelle chuckles. "When I've waited thousands of years?"
"Okay, guys," Elsa tells the spirits, "let's give it another push."
Magical swirls fly through the air, one blue, one brown, one red, and one wispy. They zip around a confused Arendelle, confused at the sudden appearance of wisps in the sky, as anyone would be. Each swirl shoots upwards, then dives into the ground, impacting hard. From where each swirl entered the streets rise the water horse, an earth giant, the fire lizard, and a tornado.
Arendelle looks around with confusion and terror, not knowing what is going to hit him.
The tornado advances, picking up Arendelle and bringing him high into the air. The fire lizard sets the enormous fist of the earth giant on fire, and the behemoth uses its fist to smash Arendelle deep into the ground. The water horse runs around the hole made by the giant, filling it with water. Elsa sends ice to cover the hole, creating the perfect trap, and perfect death.
"Elsa, is that it?" Anna asks her sister.
Silence. Elsa just stares at the trap.
"Elsa?" Anna wants an answer.
The wind, naturally, blows coolly, almost whistling. It is the only sound. It only blows for a fleeting moment. However, a few seconds feel like an eternity of emptiness, spent searching for answers to questions that were never asked.
"I think he might be gone," Elsa says after a minute. Doubt is in her voice, though.
"Elsa, you don't sound sure of it," Anna accuses. "Are you sure he's gone?"
"I--" Elsa begins.
Suddenly, a fiery explosion blows from the covered hole. Arendelle rises, standing on nothing. Screaming terrifyingly, he sends fire in rapid succession at the water horse, evaporating it; at the earth giant, who crumbles into boulders and rocks; at the fire lizard, who jumps into the fjord to hide; and into the air. In the air, the fire circles around an isolated point and gets sucked into that point like a black hole. Once it has all disappeared, the fire is released in an explosion.
Elsa puts her hand on her heart.
"He killed the spirits," she realizes. "Anna, go. Run. Now."
"I'm not leaving you, Elsa," Anna denies.
"And now," Arendelle says to Elsa, "I'm going to kill you."
Arendelle's fists and forearms set on fire. Elsa sends ice at him, which he knocks away with his fist. She sends a constant, never-ending stream of snow at him, easily and painlessly absorbed by his fists. Elsa doubles and triples its intensity. Arendelle does not flinch.
"Elsa, help!" A voice calls from inside the castle's gates. It is Hans, trapped in a pile of rubble. She remembers what he said to her only days before:
"Six years... Trapped. Alone. No one to be there for me."
Elsa remembers the kiss, and, her sympathetic feelings reemerging, she sends a blast of ice at the entrapped Hans, the impact destroying and knocking away the barriers. Arendelle uses this time to get up, his entire body bursting into flames.
"And now, Snow Queen," he says calmly as Elsa becomes noticeably worried, "you will die."
Elsa sends another stream of snow and ice at Arendelle's heart, signaling for Anna to run. Anna goes to Kristoff and Jack, who are running to the girls to help.
"Guys, where were you?" Anna asks once she catches up to the boys.
They turn around to go to Elsa.
"Jack got the worst of it," Kristoff explains, "and he needed a minute. Figured there wasn't anything I could do."
"Well, you're right," Anna confirms. "No offense."
Unflinching, Arendelle takes in another attack, Elsa's powers having no effect. He makes a giant fireball and shoots it at Elsa. Its impact throws her high and far away, to the top of the mountain which backdrops the kingdom. Arendelle laughs to himself.
"Elsa, no!" Jack calls, sending a shot of ice at Arendelle, easily absorbed.
Elsa, moving through the still night air, hears her lover's call. She grabs her bracelet on her right wrist with her left and closes her eyes, preparing for the inevitable impact. She lands hard at the top of the mountain. Fire goes up all around her and on her. The battle is over.
"No!" Anna calls. Full of fury at what obviously looks like Elsa's death, she tries to move the fire that is Arendelle. The Hellion laughs at Anna, shooting fire at her. A desperate jump away is all she can do to avoid it.
"You've lost!" Arendelle laughs maniacally. "Your Snow Queen is gone, and you've got nowhere to run!"
"If I may," Hans emerges from the castle gates putting on gloves, walking to the group.
"Speak, fool," Arendelle tells Hans. "Give me a reason not to kill you."
"You turned," Hans takes sarcastic offense. "Anyway, given our position and my unending thirst for revenge, let me kill Anna."
Anna gasps as Kristoff steps in front of her.
"You'll have to get through me first," Kristoff defends Anna.
"Let's dance," Hans draws his sword to kill the defenseless.
Hans pushes through Kristoff and grabs Anna, holding his sword at her neck.
"Nice seeing you all," Hans says as he drags Anna away.
"No!" Kristoff runs after Hans to stop him, and Jack runs after Kristoff. Arendelle makes a ring of fire around Kristoff and the Jack, trapping them. Jack tries to use his powers to destroy the fire, but it does not work.
Suddenly, the sound of crackling ice is heard everywhere. Somewhere high up, in the flames at the top of the mountain, Elsa gets up and rises from the fire like a phoenix. Her figure a shadow in the flames to the people below, she puts out the fire with a snowy flick of her wrist, still floating in the air. A medium-bright blue streak appears in her hair, taking form the same way Anna's hair changed color so many years ago.
"Elsa!" Kristoff calls.
"That's hot," Jack says to himself.
"If you kill me," Arendelle calls to Elsa, "you'll kill them, too. Kill me, and my fire is gone, and they're too close to the edge, no matter where they stand. The explosion would slaughter them."
Elsa does not verbally respond. The look on her face is one of almost apathy, yet with a determination to end the fight. This is it.
She sees Kristoff trapped in the fire, but, more importantly, Jack. She remembers their first meeting after she left Arendelle to train:
"I'm fine, now that I'm with you."
She remembers the kiss they shared and all the good times they have had together. His spontaneous gifts, helping her when she needed it, and unconditional love. Everything floods over Elsa's mind.
"I can't let him die," she tells herself quietly.
She glides downward at a rapid speed, an ever-lengthening slide of ice under her feet. She whizzes right past Arendelle, striking his arm with an icy fist. Roaring in hurt, Arendelle destroys the ice bridge around him shoots fire at Elsa, but it goes behind her; she is too fast, her ice having already found new ground with which to support itself. She flies by the fire around Kristoff and Jack, putting the flames out like a firehose would.
"Let's go get Anna," Elsa tells them.
"We'll get her," Jack says. "Stay and fight."
The boys run for the mountain.
Elsa, still zipping through the air, shoots ice at Arendelle's head, freezing it. The Hellion puts his hands on the ice, melting it. As Elsa flies overhead as Arendelle sends more fire at her. It floats into space, missing Elsa entirely. Stopping in midair, Elsa starts sending alternating blasts of winter from each hand at Arendelle, each one impacting on him harshly and quickly, preventing him from responding. Three strikes, four strikes, five strikes. The Hellion slowly starts going down with each hit. Up to ten. The momentum is Elsa's.
With a screeching roar, Arendelle gets up. He sends a cloud of fire at Elsa. She flies from its path and straight to Arendelle, icily kicking him in the face with both feet. He turns around quickly, sending yet another stream of flames at Elsa. His rapid turnaround pays off: Elsa is hit, and she spirals to the ground, impacting hard on the brick street. Arendelle attempts to take advantage of this, releasing a blaze of fire at the grounded Elsa. She puts a hand up to counter it, sending ice to meet the fire. It works, buying her a moment to stand up while defending herself. Breathing quickly, sweating, she sets her feet, ready to make one last stand as Arendelle ceases his onslaught.
"You have fight, I'll give you that," Arendelle tells Elsa, pushing away a shot of ice with an enflamed fist. His body bursts into flames. Snow starts swirling around Elsa's hands.
"I have to do this," she tells herself, fending off a flame. "For Sven."
She fights off another shot.
"For Olaf."
She absorbs a blast of flames.
"For Kristoff."
Two streams of fire are taken, one by each hand.
"For Anna."
The outline of blue diamonds start appearing all over Elsa as the onslaught continues and intensifies.
"For Jack."
Arendelle's eyes combust and, laughing with evil, he gradually builds and sends a hundred-foot tall firewall at Elsa.
"You forgot one thing," Elsa tells Arendelle.
"And what would that be?" Arendelle asks sarcastically.
"I'm the Snow Queen," Elsa declares as snow starts floating around her while the firewall advances.
"You're nothing!" Arendelle taunts.
"I." Elsa faces the advancing wall.
"Am." The wall reaches its fullest height, instantly glowing a much brighter red than it had been.
"The Snow Queen."
The diamonds glow at their brightest as Elsa moves her foot on the ground. A blue crystal snowflake appears on the ground under Elsa as the streets ice over. The ice continues all around the fjord and up the mountains around the kingdom. Arendelle sends fireballs at Elsa, but she does not flinch, absorbing their impact as she becomes luminescent. She quickly forms two branchless trees, each about as tall as the Hellion, on either side of her. She evaporates them, sending their cold contents at Arendelle. They strike him hard, and he falls backwards. Elsa, with both hands and all her strength, sends one large blizzard at Arendelle as he gets up. He looks up and sees the incoming snowstorm.
"No!" He screams as he is hit. His being is sucked into a point. From this point, a snowy explosion originates, sending sparkly snow into the sky to fall at an expected pace to the ground. Trees of ice stand where buildings did, and the rubble of the burned buildings is gone. Ice blankets the waters. Ice crystals hang in the air, not unlike those which woke the Spirits. The sky is clear, and the moon's light reflects on the ice snowflake under Elsa's feet. She has won.
*~*~*~*
Hans is violently forcing Anna up the mountain.
"Let go of me!" Anna tries to squirm loose, but Hans's hands are iron clamps.
"Queen Anna!" A voice calls in the distance ahead.
"I'm kidnapped!" Anna responds.
"You just won't make this easy, will you?" Hans rolls his eyes. Holding onto Anna with one hand, he draws his sword with the other.
Anna tries to kick and punch Hans, but he does not flinch. She may as well be fighting a statue.
Six men reach the top of a small hill in front of Hans and Anna.
"Let her go," Mattias commands, putting his sword and shield in front of himself.
The other fighters do the same.
"One against six," Hans chuckles. "And I have the queen. So, I fight with one hand, but you won't dare get near me so you don't hurt her."
"Don't listen to him!" Anna tells Mattias. "Get Hans at all costs!"
"Not at the risk of your life," Mattias responds. Turning to Hans, he says, "You don't want this to get ugly."
"Oh, I don't mind," Hans grins. "I quite enjoy it."
Hans, dragging Anna, charges the defenders. Three swords meet his own. With one mighty push, he forces the swords out of the defenders' hands. One drops his shield to get Anna, but he pays the price: Hans's sword impales him, and he rolls down the mountain. Again, Anna tries to wiggle loose, but Hans will not allow it.
Hans, with unbelievable, inhuman strength, forces the shield out of the hand of another defender, quickly outdueling him with the sword. The Arendellian is cut on the shoulder.
"Get out of here," Mattias, stepping in, tells the injured. "You can't do anymore good."
"Neither can you," Hans taunts Mattias.
The four fighters for Arendelle form the corners of a square around Hans, slowly circling the kidnapper. One man runs at Hans from behind. The former prince whips around and hits the shield with such force that the runner goes to the ground, unconscious.
Anna tries to get free, but cannot.
"Take care of him!" She commands one soldier. "Take him to wherever the rest of you are!"
"Less fighters," Hans comments, stepping away from the struck.
The unconscious soldier is carried away by the commanded.
"Three left," Hans readies for the fight.
Anna roundhouse-kicks Hans in the face. His hand loosens for her to turn, but not enough for her to get away. Anna only strikes the metal.
"I guess striking fear and hiding scars weren't the only benefits," Hans realizes as two soldiers close in quickly on either side. He simply steps back, and the soldiers hit each other's armor. They fall to the snowy ground, and, with a forceful foot, Hans kicks one with such violence that he crashes into the other soldier, and they go tumbling down the hills.
"I guess it's just you and me," Mattias says to Hans.
"Let's dance," Hans charges Mattias. Their swords meet with a loud, resounding crash, echoing through the mountains. Hans throws Anna onto the ground with extreme hardness, using his free hand to grab Mattias's shield as he swings his sword. Mattias falls backwards to avoid Hans, but loses his shield to the kidnapper in the process.
Meanwhile, Anna slowly gets up from the snow. She realizes that she is free from Hans, and, because he is not watching, she tries to run into the mountains.
Hans, however, cleverly using his internal clock, knows Anna is running. He chases after her, sword in his right hand and shield in his left. Mattias gets up and chases after Hans.
Anna does not dare to look back. The snow on the ground provides light by reflecting the moon, allowing limited vision. She pushes away one branch and jumps over another, the trees thick in the lands without path. She leaps over a log, keeping stride. She cannot look back. She cannot stop running. Hans is out there, and she needs to get as far away from him as possible. Fortunately, no branches obstruct the path ahead, so running is all that needs to be done. So, she runs. One second passes. Two seconds. Three. Each feels like its own eternity. Four seconds. It might as well be four years. Five. How long has she been running? Thirty seconds? Ten minutes? Time is distorted to her.
Suddenly, she feels herself almost falling as an arm wraps around her from behind. Hans has caught up to her, turning around to wait for Mattias.
"I planned on you getting away," Hans spills. "It gives me the tactical advantage of fixed position, and you the exertion to stop fighting me."
Anna tries to free herself.
"Ah, ah, ah," Hans warns. "You don't want me to have to use this, do you?" He refers to his sword.
Mattias emerges from the nearby trees in front of Hans.
"I'll give you one more chance," Mattias bargains. "Let her go."
"I don't think so," Hans replies.
"General, don't fight," Anna begs selflessly. "Save yourself. Don't risk yourself for me."
"I've been willing to for forty years," Mattias tells Anna. "Why would I stop now?"
Hans drops his sword and pulls a small vial from a coat pocket. Mattias takes Hans's moment of defenseless as a chance to attack. He raises his sword and runs at Hans. Just as he begins lowering his sword, Hans hits him in the face with the vial, the glass shattering but not puncturing. The contents of the vial, however, render him unconscious.
"Let's go," Hans says. He whistles for a horse, and a brown horse gallops through the woods to the call. Hans, one-handed so as to not let go of Anna, mounts the horse and rides off into the night.
*~*~*~*
Kristoff and Jack, running uphill, in the snow, through trees, as fast they can, see a body ahead of them.
"Oh, please don't be Anna," Kristoff fears the worst.
They reach the body and see that it is Mattias. Kristoff slaps him in the face, bringing him to consciousness with an inhalation.
"What happened?" Jack asks anxiously.
"Hans took six of us out, one-handed," Mattias reports groggily, rubbing his forehead.
"Where did he go?" Kristoff inquires.
"No idea," Mattias says. "But he was going up the mountain when we found him, so I'd guess he's somewhere uphill. Leave me. I can take care of myself."
"Are you sure?" Kristoff confirms.
"Go," Mattias commands.
Obediently, Kristoff and Jack run up the mountain, hoping for the best.