3 Chapter 3: The Raging Storm

(TW: Torture, abuse, implied suicide attempt, self-harm)

Arendelle

Arendelle Castle

April 23rd, 2309

Elias is 8 years old and Arthur is 5 years old when the lives they'd always known take a turn for the worst. The kingdom is peaceful within the night as the only sounds heard are those of the surrounding sea. By this point, all the townspeople are sleeping peacefully within their homes, unaware of the change that is to befall their kingdom.

It's 11pm at night and the moonlight hits Elias's body, making it harder for him to fall asleep.

The door to his room slowly creaks open, with the culprit being his brother, Artie. With a quick hop, Artie pesters Elias to follow him to the ballroom so that they can have fun. Specifically, Artie says, "Do you wanna build a snowman?" in an adorably cute voice that has Elias weak. Elias, being far too tired to truly pay attention to his instincts, gladly follows after his brother.

Once they reach the ballroom, Artie is quick to grasp both of Elias's hands before giggling, "Do the magic, do the magic." Awe is evident in his voice and Elias, who loves seeing his younger brother happy, quickly agrees. Elias waves his hands together, slowly forming a glowing snowball that is surrounded by snowflakes.

Elias throws it up into the air, watching as the entire ballroom is covered in sparkling snowflakes. His younger brother starts dancing as the snowflakes slowly fall down and tries to catch them in both his mouth and palms. "This is amazing!" Artie cries out, continuing to catch as many snowflakes as possible. The excitement shown on his brother's face spurs Elias on further.

"Watch this." Elias points down to their feet, before he lifts his foot and stomps it down. Ice quickly forms beneath his foot and spreads outwards towards the entire ballroom, creating an ice rink of sorts. Artie slides off towards the right most wall, giggling as he goes.

From there on, the two continue to play around as snow starts to gather within the room and covers the ice. They roll giant snowballs around with the intent of creating a snowman. They add on two sticks and Elias steps behind the snowman, latching onto its twig arms. "Hi, i'm Olaf and I like warm hugs," he says in a goofier voice than normal, acting as though the snowman were alive. His younger brother giggles before jumping up and hugging the snowman. "I love you Olaf," Artie says in a loving tone.

Artie then grabs Olaf and begins dancing with him, all while Elias is still behind the snowman and uses his magic to propel them across whatever ice has yet to be covered by the snow. At this point, Elias has amazing control over his magic and it shows as there has yet to be any mistakes. The two climb up one of the snowbanks that Elias's magic has created and slide down it. Elias decides to stop after the first hill, but Artie instead shows off his fearlessness by jumping off the slide-like snowbank.

"Catch me!" Artie yells out and Elias complies, creating another large mound of snow for Artie to land on. "Gotcha," Elias proudly states, working his magic masterfully, well at least in his eyes. All is well, but Artie jumps off the mound Elias just created and simply keeps going. "Again! Again!" Artie cries out, jumping off faster and faster. Elias was struggling to keep out, using his magic to constantly create new mounds but his brother was just faster. Sweat slowly formed over his forehead as he began to mildly freakout.

It all slowly goes to shit when Elias accidentally slips over his own ice and hits Artie in the head with his magic. Elias watches in horror as his brother slowly falls down onto the soft snow, a streak of his hair turning white where he was hit. "Mama! Papa!" Elias yells out, hoping they'll hear him.

Iduna was reading a book in her bed when she heard the spirits strongly for the first time in years. Go. Son Hurt. Hurry. They whispered and Iduna was up and running, dragging her husband who was sleeping next to her on the way out. She'd never ignore a message from the spirits because as her quirk grew weaker, it left the spirits only able to truly reach out to her when danger was about. She was running as fast as she could through the hallways before hearing Elias's voice, causing her to quickly change directions towards the ballroom with Agnarr en route.

Throwing the doors open, Iduna sees Elias crying as he cradles Artie to his chest, blubbering over and over again how it was an accident and he didn't mean to. She cautiously but swiftly makes her way over, noticing how Elias's magic has caused ice spikes to grow all around the ballroom erratically. Her husband is right behind her as she begins to jester her eldest over with her youngest in tow.

"Elias! What have you done! This is getting far too out of hand!" Agnarr yelled out, clearly not helping the situation whatsoever and Iduna had half a mind to slap her husband for his stupidity. When Iduna finally made it over to her boys, she quickly took Arthur from Elias's hands and cradled him to his chest. "He's ice cold," she stated in a grave tone and looked towards her husband for what they should do. She would deal with his stupidity later as their child's life was on the line.

"I know what we have to do.." Agnarr trailed off, uncertainty and fear clouding his mind, but he knew what he'd have to do. Quickly, he forces his family to go straight to his office before scouring his desk for his phone. With shaky hands, he quickly clicks onto the contact of All for One before calling him, his mind racing.

While the room is tense, Elias's hands are leaving a trail of ice as he has yet to calm down, wondering if he was a monster for hurting his brother. The only sound within the room was the ringing of a phone and Elias's sobs.

"Ah, my dear King, what is the occasion?" All for One asked, smirking on the other side of the phone. The only reason he would be contacted is if something quirk related went wrong and they risked exposure. Agnarr steeled himself as he knew his response would intrigue and upset All for One, something he wished he could avoid. "My..eldest son, Elias, accidentally hit his younger brother with his quirk...please help us." Agnarr asked, his voice wavering a bit once he heard All for One's laugh. It was sinister.

"Well well well, a quirk accident you say? By your eldest son? Hm~ I seem to recall being told he had no quirk whatsoever. Should I truly help? I do abhor liars.." All for One trailed off gleefully, clearly enjoying the idea of having a king beg him. Agnarr clenched his right fist so tightly that small red crescents appeared on his palm, unwillingly to give up.

"Please help us! My youngest will die otherwise." Agnarr's resolve broke as he pleaded and pleaded towards All for One. For the first time in forever, Elias thinks his father is weak as his tears have turned to silent sniffles. All for One hums to himself, "I guess I could help you. Just know that you'll have to pay me as a consequence." Agnarr feels relief encompass his body, thanking the gods that All for One was letting him off easy..at least that's what he was led to believe.

Suddenly, the lights throughout the room flicker as that damning portal opens up, the entire room feels as though it is drenched in a never ending darkness that is sure to damn them all. Out steps All for One, who look as though he'd just won the lottery. He looks exactly the same as he had 4 years ago, showing off a youngness that truly shouldn't be possible and yet, here they are. Kurogiri follows right behind him, as if he were a dog going through hell and back for his master.

"Bring him over!" All for One yells out, mood seemingly changing within seconds. The anger on his face gets seemingly worse over time, as though he were a completely different person. Agnarr could not recall All for One ever getting truly angry, nor did his predecessors who have spoken of his heroism for ridding them of those oddities and protecting their kingdom from others.

Iduna briskly walks over, cradling her baby securely to her chest in fear of what the man in front of her could do to him. She watches with wide eyes as he carefully places his much larger hand over Arthur's chest, before a green glow slowly covers his body. In fascination, she feels her baby getting warmer to the touch and almost wants to thank the man in front of her, but the fear within her soul causes her to freeze up. She watches as All for One backs away enough that her entire family is in front of him, horror filling up her eyes as she notices the second a quirk is used on all of them.

Gleefully, All for One watches as the family's eyes glaze over and relishes in the fact that he's about to put his newest favorite quirk to use again. Mind Manipulation is exactly as it sounds, he can use the quirk to make people believe certain things, whether they are true or not. The only downside is that the way to break out of the quirk is for specific memories to come back to them and remind them of who they used to be. He, however, had full trust in the quirk working long-term as he used it on an unsuspecting subject of sorts, poor Tenko.

All for One first stands in front of Elias and attempts to steal his quirk, but finds himself unable to. Anger courses through his veins before another idea comes to mind. He'd turn the child into a soldier through rough love, yes it's perfect. "You will become the most obedient child there ever was, never doubting the way you are loved nor the way you are taught. Every punishment is justified." He states, watching as the quirk takes effect before moving onto the king himself.

"Now, what to do with you? Ah! I know!" All for One begins, "You will become cold and harsh towards your son, training him without love whatsoever. The older he gets, the worse it will be. Towards your people, it will be as though you've never changed." He finishes, proud of his work. If poor little Elias grows up through abuse, when he saves him, the child would do anything for his savior.

Next, he steps towards the queen. "Ah, my dear Iduna. A lovely, powerful woman and with a quirk to boot! I'll just take that." All for One grabs onto her quirk's tendrils, giddy at the notion that it's a quirk he's never quite heard of it. He ignores her heartbreaking screams as the quirk merges within him. He finds that he cannot use it here, as it is seemingly too weak, but he will find its use once he's back in Japan. He bends down to her level, where she is huffing and puffing on the floor. "So, so weak my dear. You will disregard your eldest and solely love your youngest. Disgust will mar your features whenever you see him, for how can you love a monster." All for One then steps towards his last suspect, the youngest.

"Poor child, you were hurt so deeply by your brother. How could you ever forgive him? Simple, you won't. Instead, a growing hatred for your brother will grow with time, eventually leading to some less than savory things. Hatred that he will be king when you're clearly the better option." All for One gently cusps Arthur's face, watching his quirk truly get to work.

One lovely part of Mind Manipulation is that every single brain is different and will interpret his orders differently. All he knows is that Elias will surely be a complacent child once he comes back for him in a few years. The child will be a far better heir as he can feel how strong his quirk is. Tenko is great, yes, but Elias will be better! He will have been beaten down by those he loved to the point of no return.

Turning towards Kurogiri, he beckoned him over. "Let us go Kurogiri, we have much to do. That fool All Might is getting on the last of my nerves and I feel a final battle is on the horizon." All for One waited for Kurogiri to create another portal, almost stepping through it before remembering that the family was still stuck in place. He snapped his fingers and stepped into the portal, not really in the mood to watch everything take an awful turn as he had far more important things to worry about.

When the scary man left, Elias wanted to faint. When the man's magic went into his mind, his own magic fought back like a dragon and it was amazing. What wasn't amazing was hearing what the man had said to his parents and Artie. Why should he accept punishments? He did nothing wrong. He also didn't like hearing how his parents were supposed to treat him and he hoped they wouldn't follow his rules.

His wife however went unheard as the very second his family awoke, he found himself on the receiving end of a harsh slap that struck him to the core. Papa had never hit him before. Why wasn't he fighting back the evil magic?!? All Elias could do was stare up in horror at the unknown anger shown on his papa's face, one that promised nothing but pain.

"Go to your room! Don't leave unless we tell you to! You are hereby banned from practicing any of your disgusting magic" His father yelled out, wanting to hit his son for being so stupid. He could've killed Arthur. There's no way he'll be let off the hook.

Elias wanted to cry again, feeling the sting of pain on his left cheek. "P-papa!" Elias called out, fear lacing his word, hoping this was all some cruel joke. His father turned around and stared at him in disgust. " You will call me sir from now on. I do not have a disgrace such as yourself as my son." He claimed, leaving the room in a fit of fury. If he stayed one more second in that room with that monster, he might have truly killed him. His poor Arthur, he'd need to make sure he never saw the fool again.

Feeling despair, Elias attempted to call out for his mama, but once he saw her loathing expression, he shut his mouth faster than his father shut doors. He couldn't muster up any words that would make the situation better. His mother then left the room, cradling Artie to her chest, without ever once looking back.

Shakily, Elias got up and stumbled towards his room, feeling unsafe and confused. His magic was attempting to comfort him but he felt as though he'd never want to use it again. If he was just normal, maybe this would've never happened. Once he was in his room, Elias gently shut the door and shuffled into his bed, covering his entire self with the covers. Maybe if no one could see him, he'd be okay. Elias fell off into a less than peaceful sleep, somehow knowing that the days to come would be awful.

Arendelle

Arendelle Castle

April 24th, 2309-January 10th, 2310

Elias is 9 years old when physical discipline is introduced as punishment for simple mistakes during his many lessons. He'd already gotten used to the sneers and lack of affection from his parents, the harsh beatings from Sir, and the clear hatred from Artie. He didn't want this anymore but he had no choice, he was only 9! He couldn't even escape.

Small mistakes, such as messing up a step in ballet or using the wrong form during sword-play resulted in different forms of physical discipline. Sometimes he'd be slapped, verbally beaten down, or he'd have to get used to the ruler. His hands would end up in utter agony, burning whenever he moved them. The only positive was that his magic would sometimes help him as ice would soothe his wounds and clear the pain away, leaving small scars here and there.

There were truly more downsides than upsides, as he could no longer see Arvid or Snow. Instead, he was confined to his bedroom or the dungeons, it all depended on how his father felt that day. The loneliness hit him full force some days, as he lost the motivation to continue on some days. He always kept a little bit of hope within him, that his parents would suddenly remember how they used to be and break out of the spell, but no matter how much he reminded them, all he received was looks of disgust and a harsh fist to the abdomen.

The only constant in his life was his magic, comforting him at every turn. He may not have been allowed to practice it, but he learned another way to use it. Somehow, he learned to communicate with his magic, but he couldn't explain how. It was as though he suddenly understood how to break the barrier between himself and the ice, it was also how he learned he wasn't all human. Elias does not know what he is, but humans cannot do what he can. Well, magic in of itself is something that humans should not be able to do, but Elias can do more.

Flashback

He remembers the first day he was able to create pajamas for himself, as he was doused in freezing cold water and sent to the dungeons. He shivered and cried, curling in on himself as he wondered how he could help himself. The dungeons were colder than the ice he produced himself, seeping deep beneath his skin. His own magic couldn't even warm him up, leaving Elias to gather as much warmth as he could through his own breaths. He always believed he was the cold, but this clearly proved otherwise.

As he continued to wallow in his own self-despair, his magic seemingly activated without a second thought. It enveloped him in a mother's embrace, something he missed so dearly and over his own wet disgusting clothing, a new form of warm pajamas was left over. He didn't understand it at all. How could he suddenly make clothing? Ice, snow, etc, he understood perfectly well, but something like this is so far out of the realm of ordinary.

The entire set of clothing was as blue as his own eyes, sparking beautifully. He felt as though his own magic was protecting him in its own way, even if it couldn't technically warm him up. Somehow, he knew he shouldn't have been cold, but he wasn't out in a snowstorm, no he had been soaking wet and the cold air simply hit differently.

Flashback Over

From there on out, Elias began experimenting per say late at night, when no one could truly check up on him. He firmly believed there was more to his magic than he'd ever know and the only way to find out was to actually try to figure it out on his own. Of course, there were some issues with this.

Elias sometimes needed to release his magic, as keeping it bottled inside would force him to let it all out in an unsafe manner, something his parents no longer understood. Despite being 9 years old, Elias's intelligence was rising quickly, leaving him far smarter than the average 9 year old. He figured out how to release his magic at times when no one was around because whenever he was caught, it wasn't pretty. The last time he'd been caught, he suffered a large scar on his stomach as Sir dragged his blade through him. It terrified him to the core and made him realize that his father would do everything in his power to beat him down.

He truly just wished it would end.

Arendelle

Arendelle Castle

January 11th, 2310-February 16th, 2311

Not much happens while Elias is 10, as his routine hasn't necessarily changed. He began some new lessons, such as learning how to write laws and run the kingdom. Most of the changes he dealt with came in the form of harsher punishments. From waterboarding to using controlled shocks, Elias has become somewhat immune to the pain.

Some days, he feels as though he'll lash out and kill everyone, but then the rational part of his brain tells him he'd never do it. Sometimes, he feels his thoughts are not his own, as if he were further merging with his magic. The magic is angry at the pain he deals with and when he is asleep at night, it slowly attacks.

It's all so subtle that no one would notice, such as making the area colder but not cold enough to raise suspicion or having fires burn out faster by slowly adding ice. Of course, Elias knows nothing about this whatsoever, as he is so deeply asleep whenever something of the sort occurs.

The scars all over his body tell the story of a soldier coming home from war, but the only battle being fought is the one against his own flesh and blood. Day after day, hre ceives small gifts from them as their hatred and disgust grow to new ends. Pins and needles? Lovely. His favorite gift was a flower wreath that was usually given at funerals. At first, he was deeply confused because he hadn't known anyone who died recently, until he realized it was for his own funeral. His brother gave it to him to symbolize how he is dead to him. It truly brought a smile to his face.

His sadness had also grown exponentially, as thoughts of how he wasn't good enough and how it'd be better if he was dead were daily occurrences, just a part of his norm. No one believed how he felt, as even the servants and maids of the castle began to realize how unfavored he had become, despite being trained as the heir.

He can recall how sometimes his own food would be cold, while his family relished in warm and fresh food. It angered and saddened him, as the differences became noticeable to those around them. He felt as though the only one on his side was his magic, something that could never part with him. He wished he knew why his parents lacked the ability to break out of the curse of that man, because it made him feel as though the love given to him by his parents 2 years ago was nothing but a facade, nowhere near strong enough to break it apart.

Despite his intelligence, Elias was but a child who was maturing far too quickly in order to protect himself. He could never really fight back, but the urge to slowly grew within him. Someday, he'd be strong enough to run away from everything, but for now, he'd slowly strengthen his magic without anyone knowing.

Arendelle

Arendelle Castle

February 167h, 2311- May 9th, 2312

At 11 years old, Elias learns what it means to be completely humiliated. Not necessarily in front of anyone, but the over looming sense of shame swallows him whole.

His father had been yelling at him for hours and Elias was just fed up, so yelled back for once. He told his father it was pointless to yell at a child for not being perfect when some people learn different skills for years and barely master said skills. However, Elias quickly regretted his words right afterwards as he noticed his father's expression. It was sinister and unrecognizable on his face. It reminded him of that man in a way he wished wasn't possible.

Before he even realized what was happening, his father dragged him by the arms down to the dungeons. Elias was thrown into his cell harshly, feeling pain all over his body. He stared up at his father, who had taken off his belt and smacked it harshly onto the ground. "Turn around, son." His father harshly stated, venom lacing his every word. Elias knew better than to antagonize his father, so he turned around to face the wall, unsure of what was about to happen. Did his father want to carve something into him? He shuddered at the notion.

"Take off your shirt and do.not.move." The words were straight to the point and demanding, an order clearly being said. Quickly, Elias raced to throw off his shirt, shivering as the cold air hit his tiny body. Through new forms of starvation by courtesy of the chefs, Elias began to lose weight and whatever muscles he had formed. His body was a sight for sore eyes.

Without warning, his father lashed the belt against his back and Elias cried out due to the pain. It stung so badly and his father didn't stop. Lash after lash, Elias could feel blood oozing out of the new cuts all over his back. He'd wondered why his father never let anyone scar his back..and now he had his answer. "S-sir..please stop." Elias cried out, hoping his father would be lenient for once and stop this madness. He kept on asking and asking, waiting for any type of response, even a grunt would work.

Unfortunately, his pleas fell on deaf ears as his father ignored whatever he said. By this point, the pain was so prominent that Elias felt as though he would collapse and pass out, but he hung on knowing it would be worse if he did. His magic also couldn't help him out as it would reveal how his injuries quickly healed up, showing that if he were constantly hurt, there'd be no issue. He could never have that happen, as it would possibly spur his father on and lead to even more injuries.

Finally, after such a long amount of time, his father stopped hitting him and the belt fell to the ground. He could hear his father harshly panting from the workout he gave himself and wished he'd just go away. His wish must've been granted as his father picked up the belt and left without any word, locking the cell behind him. The sound of the cell door closing was illuminating as he felt safe. The only issue was that Elias felt shame overtake him for submitting to his father in such a way. It felt as though he'd been spanked for being a poor child, except a belt was used on him instead and the place of pain was his back, not his behind.

Elias slid down onto his knees, bile rising in his throat as the contents of his only meal that day emptied out of him. It was too much for him at this point and he wasn't sure if he could do this any longer. The pain in his back was seemingly receding as his magic quickly got to work, covering all the belt marks in a thin layer of ice. He felt disgusting at this point and wished he could take a shower, but knew he'd be in the cell for quite some time. All he could do was use some snow to cover the smell of the vomit, before moving far away from the smell.

Days like that happened for the rest of the year, with his father whipping him for the smallest of reasons. Maybe he accidentally looked his way and it came off as arrogant? He'd be due for a whipping. God he was lucky he had magic, as the scars would at least fade a bunch but, it mattered not as he received so many back scars. It was as if it were his father's new favorite pastime.

Wishing for death became even more prominent, but Elias found it hard to truly go through with it because the one time he did, he awoke to the scars cleaned and faded. It was the first time Elais truly cursed his magic. He couldn't even die. It was a hard pill to swallow, being unable to die on his own terms. He never tried again, refusing to deal with the anguish it would bring. The most he would do from time to time is cut himself with a shard of his own ice, watching as small lines of blood formed on his arm. It was peaceful in some ways, as having control over his own scars brought him a feeling of safety and comfort, despite the fact that he was hurting himself.

Elias honestly though that his life couldn't get any worse. He'd dealt with all kinds of unusual and cruel punishments that would have even the strongest of men running the other way. He no longer received affection from anyone and was truly alone in all kinds of ways, from not really having anyone to talk to and being removed from his only friends. Yes, his magic could be seen as a friend but that was different. His magic was a part of him, so the loneliness still prevailed. He wished he could just sneak out of the castle and see Arvid again, hoping that he'd forgive him for not meeting up with him at all. Maybe he could finally tell someone what was going on within the castle walls.

Elias truly needed to stop jinxing himself, as he seemed to constantly do so.

Arendelle

Arendelle Castle

December 21st, 2312

At 12 years old, Elias finally learned the reasoning behind the pins and needle gift.