Into the Unknown (A Frozen Fanfic)

Chapter Twenty Seven

ELSA GLARED AT Hans as he paced before her. He had used her element to force her to freeze the Northuldra's and the Arendelle Soldiers' hands to trees. Including Mama and Papa's.

"You won't get away with this!" Mama shouted from behind.

"Release our daughters!" came Papa's demand.

Hans laughed as he slowly turned around. "Now, why would I do that?" He gestured in between Anna, who clung to his side, and Elsa. "I have all the power in the world with these two combined."

He eyed Mama. "Elsa, release them."

For once, this was a command she was happy to fulfill. She swirled around and with a swoop of her arm, the ice pinning her parents hands melted away. Both staggered, seeing as they were held a little higher off the ground on their tip-toes, but steadied themselves.

Papa shouted in a fit of rage and withdrew his sword from its scabbard at his hip, but again Hans just laughed. "Yes, Agnarr. Let your anger fuel you. You'll need all the help you can get." Turning his head towards Elsa, he commanded, "Elsa, kill him!"

Elsa gasped. "What?" She had wanted to shout, but her word only came out in a whisper. Unwillingly, she obeyed.

She swung her hand upward and an ice wall formed, following her motion. It raced forward until it rammed into Papa's chest and flung him backwards colliding with the tree.

"Agnarr!" Mama quickly knelt down by his side.

Elsa cringed and hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Papa! She wanted to crumple to the ground for what she had done. She had never wanted to use her powers to harm her family, but lately, that's all she had been doing.

Papa clambered to his feet, Mama holding his arm to support him. "I won't—" He cut himself off as he grimaced and a hand flew to his side. "I won't let our daughters be your slaves," he directed at Hans.

"Elsa, finish him!" Hans shouted.

Elsa tried resisting the urge to thrust an ice shard Papa's way, but the control Hans had over her was too strong. A shard formed in her fist and she launched it at her parents. Thankfully, Mama shoved Papa out of the way before it pierced him and the shard collided with the tree and shattered.

"Elsa, fight this!" Mama balled her hands into fists. "The element only controls you if you let it. You're stronger than the crystal. Fight him!"

Elsa clenched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth as she tried ignoring the pull to follow the master of the element. Even with the crystal around Anna's neck, Hans was still able to control everything Elsa did. She had to find a way to get her element back. Only then could she truly be free and keep from hurting her parents. Fighting the control wasn't going to be enough. She could hurt one of them in the time it took her to overpower the element.

"Are you not listening to me?" Hans shouted. "Kill them! Now!"

No longer finding the strength to resist, Elsa held out her hands in front of her at waist length and clenched her fists. At the same time, the ground shook. Ice covered the grass below her feet. She thrust a hand forward and a thin trail dashed in Mama and Papa's direction. Extending her fingers, spikes of ice sprang from the ground.

Mama gasped and her eyes widened as she backed away, her back running against the bark of the tree.

"Mama, move!" Elsa squeezed out.

Mama swiftly turned and dove for the grass that wasn't covered. She rolled on the ground before coming to a stop and looked at Elsa.

Elsa, relieved that Mama was okay, turned to find her father had done the same thing and laid on the ground on his side. Papa panted and was already looking worn out and tired — something she had never seen on her father before. Something must've happened while she and Mama were gone. Something that took its toll on Papa.

Unable to stop herself, Elsa raised her right hand and swiped it left. Mama rose into the air on a block of ice and shot across the forest colliding with a tree. She slid to the ground, landing on her side, and laid there motionless, strands of brown hair falling over her face.

"Iduna!" Papa steady his feet in an attack mode, his teeth gritted and hands clenched, but he wasn't aimed for Elsa. No, he was aiming for Hans. He shouted as he sprinted towards the Prince, grabbing the sword he had dropped that laid a few feet away.

Upon reaching Hans, Anna stepped in the way. Her hands igniting in a burst of flames and she slammed her hands forward. They made contact with Papa's chest and a burst of wind blew him backwards. He skidded on his back and eventually came to a stop. He laid there limp with flames dancing on the front of his thin shirt.

Anna thrust her hands on her hips and smiled. 

Elsa gasped as fear gripped her heart. "Papa!" She took a step forward, desperate to reach him, but felt an invisible hand hold her back.

"Enough!" Hans shouted. He maneuvered around Anna and found his way in between Mama and Papa. He glanced back and forth between the two before folding his hands behind his back. "Anna, be a dear and tie them up," he said. "I want them brought to the leader's hut."

Anna grunted and stomped a foot. "We should just kill them now!" she exploded. A hand flung in Elsa's direction. "That's what you commanded her to do. Why change your mind?"

"Because they're unconscious," Hans simply replied. He turned around to face Anna. "Believe me, I want them dead, but I want them alive to feel it." He stalked up to Elsa's little sister and caressed her cheek. "I want them to feel the cold shard enter their flesh and suck the life from them. I want them to look into Elsa's eyes as the monster they once feared finally kills them."

"No!" Elsa screamed, new tears threatening to race down her cheeks. She clenched her hands. "I won't do it! I won't kill them!"

Hans's hand slipped from Anna's cheek down to the crystal around her neck and he held it resting on his fingertips. "You will do as I say," he said, sternly. "For you cannot resist me." Lowering his hand, he directed his speech towards Anna. "Now, tie them up please."

With a huff, Anna did as Hans had asked.

Elsa lowered her gaze as sorrow overwhelmed her, but not a second later, something cold clasped around her neck. Her hands immediately flew to the spot to find something hard and heavy, something that felt like metal, chained around her flesh. 

She glared up at Hans who now stood before her. "What is this?" she hissed.

Hans smiled. "Precaution. The metal around your neck is protected by runes. Certain runes which I'm sure you're familiar with."

Elsa shoved her fingers in between the cold metal and the flesh of her neck and tugged. It was then that she felt her magic draining and she was unable to conjure her ice. She narrowed her eyes.

Hans gently laid his hands on her shoulders. "With your powers suppressed, I don't have to worry about you trying to overpower Anna and get your element back." He shrugged. "Not that you could." He removed his hands and began walking away.

"You coward!" Elsa screamed. She took several steps forward but was suddenly halted. Glancing back, she found that a chain-link ran from the collar around her neck to another larger collar that wrapped itself around the tree. Hans had been planning this the whole time*.

She turned and watched as Hans disappeared inside one of the Northuldra huts and anger boiled in her blood. She would get out here and free Anna and her parents from Hans's snare.