Other Fan Fiction ❯ Reprise ❯ Shatter Me ( Chapter 37 )

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CHAPTER 37: Shatter Me

A trail of white crystals followed Elsa. Opal icicles rose out of her footsteps like stalagmites. She had lost sight of Ansel, but she knew this castle intimately. There was not an alcove he could hide in, that she wouldn't find.

The path took her to the throne room doors. She could have taken the side entrance at the back wall. It existed so nobility didn't have to tread the same carpet as commoners. But she was no longer nobility. She was more.

She kicked in the door. Ansel was standing in front of the throne, adjusting his leather jerkin.

"This is not your throne," Elsa said. She stamped her foot.

Her power spread across the floor, covering the walls with rough serrated ice. It formed too fast to freeze smoothly.

Everything turned white. Red carpet turned to blue. The vases and waving tapestries solidified. Stone walls became purple with dazzling fractal patterns. The ice spread under Ansel's feet and congregated at the throne. Its back grew tall and hexagonal, with jagged shards projecting out the top.

"I see you've made this place your own," Ansel said.

"It always was my own," Elsa said. "You are no ruler of Arendelle."

"Maybe not, but I wasn't unwelcome. You abandoned Arendelle," Ansel countered. "Twice. Each time before you plunged it into wintertide. If not for me, you would have single-handedly destroyed the kingdom. Your own people are afraid of you."

"It is not for them to decide. Arendelle needs its queen."

"Even if some people don't want me, they certainly don't want you. They think you're a monster. Don't try and deny it."

Elsa smiled. "Oh, but I am a monster. I am sorceress the likes of which have never been seen. The energy I yield is ungraspable, unimaginable, and I am its sole gatekeeper. I am as beautiful and terrible as the ocean. As treacherous as the mountain. Stronger than the will of man."

She held up her arm. Ice magic swirled around her hand, coating it with blue ice. Thick spikes with razor points extended from her fingers.

"If you truly believe you are a monster, then die as one!" Ansel shouted.

He lunged forward with his broadsword held in an overhead strike.

Elsa raised her claw arm and knocked it away. He sliced diagonally. She jabbed forward, cutting the loops in his leather armor. He stepped back and thrust forward. She side-stepped.

They began a dance of glancing blows and clanging metal. Though her focus was inhuman, she only managed to make a few nicks in his flesh.

Ansel aimed the sword at her shoulder. Elsa caught the blade in her iced hand. She glared at him. Ansel twisted his sword, only chipping off flakes of ice. Elsa shoved him back. He staggered against the wall.

"I have broken swords stronger than yours with my magic," Elsa said. She started forward.

"I am not yet broken, cold-hearted witch."

Elsa raised her eyebrows. "Cold-hearted? Do you know that phrase's true meaning?"

She raised her hands above her head, summoning a swirl of white ice particles.

"It means to suffer undue torture as your hair turns white, your muscles ache. You cannot move or speak without turning numb and slow. And finally your body betrays you. It freezes into solid unbreakable ice. Forever. I know this because I did it to my own sister."

Ansel hissed. "You are a monster."

"And you will know what it is to have a frozen heart!" She thrust forward. Jagged shards of pure white anger flew forward. Ansel shielded his eyes.

Nothing had happened.

"What?" Elsa growled. Ansel stood laughing.

"Foolish child. Do you think I go unprepared?" He yanked his collar down. Underneath his leather armor was a chest plate of slate gray metal.

"Pyramite," Elsa whispered.

"I made my fortune because I prepared for every possible scenario before my opponent," Ansel said. "I figured out how to exploit every weakness, no matter the cost. So when I found out Corona had a substance incapable of freezing, I bought the whole stock."

Elsa stabbed her iced hand. His armor may have been frost proof but it wasn't unpiercable. The spikes on her knuckles shattered, tinkling to the floor.

Ansel backhanded her. She fell across the throne. Her lip dribbled warmth as Ansel laughed.

Elsa flicked out her wrist. A razor-sharp icicle formed over her head. She sent it sailing. Before it covered half the distance, the icicle diminished to half its size. By the time it crossed the room, it became a collection of droplets.

"I will not let you take over my kingdom," Elsa said, gasping for air.

"I'm not sure you have much choice." Ansel approached. "If you want to surrender it to me, we can make this much easier-"

Elsa's pale blue eyes stabbed into his. "NEVER!"

She leapt forward, hands raised. Ansel stepped back, startled. She jumped on him, wrapping her legs. Her flesh hissed and steamed each time she touched the pyramite, making her scream. But she crawled up and took hold of his neck.

"No pyramite here," she whispered into his ear.

Ansel flailed, but failed to grab her. He backed up and slammed her against the wall. She grunted, but didn't lose grip. He tried again. After the second time, he couldn't catch his breath. She wasn't choking him--her hands weren't squeezing tight enough--but he couldn't breathe.

"In case you're wondering, I'm freezing your breath before it can get into your lungs," she said. "Should be more effective than strangulation."

Ansel's eyes popped out of his head. He gagged and drooled as his hands gnarled, failing to pry away her tiny fingers. It was as if she'd frozen them to his flesh. His throat felt the width of a twig.

"Elsa, stop!"

Ariel stood in the doorway, holding her trident.

"Let him go. For god's sake, Elsa!" she said.

Elsa glowered at her. "If I don't, will you blast me?"

"I will if I have to," Ariel said. "Don't kill him, please."

"The scum deserves to die."

"But you're more compassionate than that. I know you. Please, Elsa, I don't want to have to shoot you."

"And you won't." Elsa shifted her piercing gaze above Ariel's head.

Ariel looked up. A gigantic icicle hung above her, connected to the ceiling by a trembling thread of ice. Without Elsa's will, it would crush her. She could never move out of the way fast enough.

Elsa said "Now you turn around and go tell the people that their queen has retaken the throne. Tell all those disloyal to the crown that-AGGH"

Suddenly, yellow cloth wrapped around her eyes. No, not cloth. Hair.

"Flower-gleam-and-glow-let-your-power-shine," Rapunzel sang as loud and strong as ever.

Whether from the intensity of her desire or her voice, the hair blazed bright as the sun. Elsa screamed as the light penetrated her eyelids.

She dropped off Ansel and clutched at the wrap. But it was too tight, too many fibers to pull away. The warmth and heat made her head swim.

Rapunzel yanked the swath of hair away. Elsa dropped to her knees, palms to her eyeballs as if keeping them from falling out.

Ariel grabbed Ansel by his shoulders and threw him into the hallway. Rapunzel followed them out of the throne room.

"Lock it! Lock it!" Ariel said.

Rapunzel pulled the doors shut and locked it with the key Anna had given her. Ariel grabbed a small table and slid its legs through the door handles.

"I hope that does it," Ariel said. She wiped her brow.

"Just until we can get back to her," Rapunzel said.

Ansel was kneeling on the ground, coughing and massaging his throat.

Ariel yanked him upright. She thrust the trident up to his chin. He had to lift his neck to avoid being punctured.

"You," Rapunzel said, pointing her frying pan at him, "are so fired."

Rapunzel entered the grand hall toting Ansel on a rope, like a zookeeper with an escaped gorilla. Ariel marched in back, trident poised and ready for trouble.

Anna and Kristoff stood near the doors, where they had agreed to wait. Kristoff grinned and clapped his gloved hands.

"We got him," Rapunzel replied.

"Hm, someone trying to weasel his way onto the throne being led out of the palace in handcuffs. Why does this look so familiar?" Kristoff mocked.

"Did you find Elsa?" Anna asked.

"We did," Ariel said. "She's in the throne room still. She went..." Ariel paused to think of the right words.

"She got a little intense," Rapunzel finished. "She just needs time to cool off. Or heat up. Whichever."

Anna looked a little surprised, but not upset.

Ariel leaned into Rapunzel's ear. "She's not blinded, is she?"

"No, it'll fade," she whispered back.

Flynn slipped in through the doors. "There's a mob at the gates. Looks like the whole town is there."

"They must have come running once they heard about the battle," Kristoff said. "Are they angry?"

"I don't know. Once word spread that we'd broken through, the guards stopped guarding, the soldiers left their posts. I think everyone's waiting to see who won."

"Well, let's show them," Anna grinned.

She led the way, strutting across the carpet. Rapunzel and Ariel dragged the Ansel behind. Flynn and Kristoff gleefully opened the doors for them.

Applause rose to a clamor as Anna appeared. Even louder once Rapunzel showed up with prisoner in tow.

Anna approached the podium once used for Ansel's rousing propaganda speeches. Many minutes passed before it was quiet enough.

"Citizens, the true rulers of Arendelle have returned."

More applause. It took as long for them to return to silence.

"We have driven out Lord Protector Ansel and his private counsel. He came here in a time of need under the pretense of safety, but that time has passed. So thank you, Princess Rapunzel..." Anna half-turned to address her cousin, "for the gift of your navy and its commander. But I don't think we'll be needing it anymore."

The crowd's chorus indicated they wanted Rapunzel to take the stand. Anna stepped aside, grinning. Rapunzel wasn't ready for this.

"Anna, you're welcome," Rapunzel said. "I'll be pleased to take him back to Corona and deal with him there. And with the royal family back in control, I'm looking forward to seeing the kingdom back to normal."

Amid the crowd's white noise, someone yelled "Rapunzel, Queen of Arendelle!"

That catalyzed the biggest reaction of all. The crowd whooped and hollered like a multi-headed beast with one brain. Noise rose into such upsurge, no one on stage could hear themselves.

Rapunzel looked to Anna. She had no reaction, except a slight smile. Maybe she was resigned, even pleased. She glanced at Rapunzel and gave a slight shrug, as if to say "it's your choice"

And this was the time to make it. There had been enough time to consider and the people demanded an answer. The queen was questionably fit for office. The princess was abdicating the throne. And the placeholder regime had been toppled. It was a nexus of change, and everyone, even their friends, wanted to know what was next. Rapunzel leaned into the podium.

Elsa stirred. Had she lost consciousness? Did the bright light shock her into swooning? It was so hard to tell with her head full of mashed thoughts. She knew she hadn't been out long. Not more than a few minutes.

When she opened her eyes, the blue of the throne room returned to her. But no one was there. Elsa struggled to her feet and tried the door. It didn't budge.

Locked? They locked her in her own throne room? Why? She had Ansel on his knees. And they took her victory from her. Why? They wanted it for themselves?

Of course they did. They wanted the whole kingdom for themselves. The credit, the glory. The people's love. The love she could never get.

All of them usurpers. They wanted her locked away again. Like she had been her whole life. To suppress her magnificence and terror. No longer. Not ever again. She grabbed both door handles.

The cold channeled down her arms to her fingers. Frost caked the knobs. The brass squeaked in pain. She sharply twisted each knob.

Inside, pieces of the locking apparatus shattered. She broke the metal handle off with a clink and the doors yielded.

No one outside the hall. She headed up the stairs towards the main doors. The castle was as empty as when she entered. If anyone crossed her path she would have frozen them to their soul, but no one did.

No one in the main hall either. But through the door, the crowd chanted. "Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Rapun-zel!"

So it was her. All because the people loved her better. Better than Anna. Better than their own queen. The queen who had spent all her life preparing to serve them, even with the impairment of her curse.

Elsa pressed her eye to the door. The blonde was about to make her acceptance speech. And a perfect time too, in the cusp of upheaval. Some cousin. She should have seen the signs from the beginning. Elsa formed a long, smooth icicle in her hand, contoured to the shape of a dagger.

The chanting continued. Rapunzel held up her hands. "Stop. Stop. Stop, please," she announced. The crowd quieted. Here would be her decision. Her "crowning moment"

"I love you all very much," Rapunzel said. "I love Arendelle. It's like my sister country. I've formed bonds here that go beyond family. But I cannot be your queen. It's true that I want to. I want to live here. I love spending time with my cousins. I love being with you all. But this is not my kingdom to rule. It belongs to them."

Rapunzel hadn't even known what she would say before she said it. She had fought for the kingdom. She had earned the right to be its queen. But it took the spontaneous act of speaking to realize what was in her heart. As much as she might want the job, and as good as she was at it, it wasn't hers to take.

The crowd responded with mild, dignified applause--a mix of disappointment and dignity. Rapunzel stepped back from the podium and took a deep breath. Her eyes watered. She looked back at Flynn, who gave her his signature cocky grin and a thumbs up. Kristoff nodded and clapped his mittens. She turned to Anna, who hugged her about the shoulders.

They turned to the sound of a squeaking cry. Behind them, Elsa dropped to her knees in the doorway. In her hand was a long icicle, the perfect shape to stab a person. She let it roll out, where it melted.

"Elsa?" Anna said.

Elsa's eyes dilated. Her chest heaved up and down as the sobs took hold. The arctic eyes with pinprick dots transformed with the rolling tears. Her normal blue eyes with wide pupils returned, as did the lighter violet highlights. Her hair color softened to its ivory hue. And her dress's accoutrements fizzled into white mist.

Anna kneeled before her. Rapunzel followed, doing the same. "Elsa?" she asked. "Are you...?"

"I'm sorry," Elsa said. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so..."

Anna and Rapunzel embraced her. Elsa bawled, letting all her rage and sadness go. Chunks of the ice around her heart melted, causing such an overflow.

Ariel handed Ansel off to a loyal guard. She dropped her trident and joined the hug from behind. Flynn and Kristoff followed too.

"Hey, what are you guys doing without me?" Olaf toddled onto the stage. "I talk about warm hugs over and over, and the one time..."

Rapunzel, as teary-eyed as Elsa, reached out her arm with a come-here motion. The snowman pressed himself in. No one even felt his cold skin. The warmth from their family reunited overcame all.