Chapter 15

~ Great Thaw. Part 2 ~

Diana POV:

"Elsa, those two don't seem like knights to me, more like mercenaries or something, so they will most likely try to shoot on sight," I say to the Queen as we run up, yet another set of stairs even higher, the two goons are steadily catching up, but they are still far enough for me to be able to converse with Elsa without them hearing it.

"So, here's the plan, once we make it to the very top, the very first thing you need to do, is make a decent size ice wall at the entrance, to buy us some time, that's the first and most crucial step"

"I-I Will try" Elsa replies, with less confidence than I'd like.

"Don't worry, you got this, you're amazing"

"Right..." She mutters.

The two men are gaining on us, but we are almost at the top of the palace, just a little bit and we will be there.

"Elsa, get ready to do it," I tell Elsa.

"Okay..." She answers and then she silently repeats "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this" over and over, as we are finally a few seconds away from the entrance of the top-most room.

And just as we got inside, with me barely making it, since I was behind Elsa, she built a wall of ice, preventing the goons from entering, which should give us enough time for everything else that I have in mind.

I turn to Elsa, who's stressed out, but also slightly happy because she didn't screw up, not like she actually would, for she works quite well under pressure, since in the movie she beat and possibly was close to killing these two, if it weren't for the meddling Hans talking her out of it, if not for him... Frozen would've had a different rating.

"Queen, listen" Elsa snaps out of her state and stares at me "Now, you got to do everything that I say, it's important, I don't want any rejections, got it?"

Elsa slightly nods in what seems to be confusion. I guess my 180 from jovial to serious mood put her off, but now's not the time for that.

"First, I want you to make me an ice shard, that's sharp enough to slightly cut flesh"

The Queen apprehensively does the task and hands over the shard to me, I take it, grip it tightly, this will definitely be enough to do the job.

"Second, we need a decoy..." I stare at Elsa for a few seconds, prompting her to ask me.

"Yes? What do I need to make for that?" Elsa tries to hurry me along.

"Hm..." I hum, I don't know... I feel like a Queen, especially Elsa should have never been put in chains... even if it's only for a short time... Yes, I don't want that happening, so I guess it's time for some slight change in the plot...

It's not like I could've dodged the events for too long anyway. So why not mess some stuff up. I've already made Elsa build a wall, instead of her fighting and defending against the arrows these two buffoons shot at her, so, whatever.

"I will be the decoy" I finally say, making Elsa's eyes wide.

"Huh? You? How will you be a decoy?"

I hear Elsa's wall of ice being shot with multiple arrows, I guess they aren't that stupid, if you want to break something effectively, focus on one point, giving me less time than I thought.

"My hair" I point the shard to my head.

"Huh?" Elsa lets out a sound in confusion before she realizes what I mean "Wait... You can't be serious"

"Oh, I am very serious. Time to show the world how 'evil' I can be" Even if that evilness isn't an actual thing whatsoever, but my acting can definitely work, unlike people from Arendelle, these goons aren't from around here, they don't know about me all that well.

"Bu="

"Elsa, not now, we don't have enough time"

"Fine..." Elsa gives up.

"Now, three... And the really crucial part. I want you, to break a hole in the wall, so you could get outside. Then, go down using a slide, form new ice as you go down, then once you land on the mountain ground, make a wall behind the created slide, so that others couldn't follow you"

Elsa is about to say 'yes', before she stops herself, realizing what I just said.

"Are you crazy? I am not leaving you here"

"Yes, you are, you have to, otherwise they will just chase us both down, but I can buy you enough time to get away"

"No, no, I can just build some walls and we can get away"

"Walls outside? They'd just walk around them and if not? They'd know where we'd be if you made bigger ones to block them, there's no other way that I can think of on the short time limit that we have right now and killing these people... isn't an appealing thought to me"

As I explain, I hear the first cracks in the wall, shit, this is taking too long.

"Still, I'd rather stay and we would take whatever is coming together, we can even fight" Elsa states with conviction.

"While that is quite flattering to hear, that is also stupid. If you fight them, they will think that you're a threat and you might lose any credibility you have left on your people. So, Elsa, please just go, if not for yourself... Then for Anna, she needs you, go back to Arendelle, find her, otherwise, you won't see her again... ever" While that's not the truth, it seems like Elsa believed my words.

"What... Even if I do that, how can I help her? I don't know what to do"

"Don't worry about it, everything will work out, all you need to do is go to Arendelle and find Anna... And due to my powers, I suggest being close to her"

Elsa stands, locked in place, thinking. Ugh, there's no time for that.

"GO!" I shout at the Queen. Elsa snaps out of her daze and finally does what I asked of her. Good.

She creates a big ice spike, smashes it into the ice wall, making enough space, both in height and width for one person, goes outside, readies herself to make the slide, but she turns around to look at me for the last time... For now, ain't nobody keeping me away from my Queen after all.

I wave at her "Bye, bye Queen, if we meet again, I hope you won't refuse me as a maid"

"Why would I do that?" Elsa asks me confused.

Why wouldn't you? Without the effects of being in the vicinity of the ice castle, there's no guarantee of you accepting me because of what happened here. But with this... sacrifice strategy, should effectively give me that position by default. So the plan is both selfless and selfish at the same time.

I shake my head "Go, you sister needs you, and be careful of that prince" I refuse to answer, instead of trying to get her to go, with a piece of advice on Hans.

She nods, slightly confused, and jumps off of the palace while creating an ice slide, she even looked elegant while jumping off a 'who-knows' how tall palace.

I slice my palm with the ice shard, enough to draw quite a bit of blood and smear it on my forehead in a straight line, so it could drip down slowly, while I clench the injured hand into a fist and hide it behind my back. I turn around just as the ice wall finally crumbles and multiple people step into the room.

The two goons with raised crossbows pointing straight at me, the other knights that were less relevant, and then the great baddie himself, Hans. Who... has a magic aura swirling inside of him... what?

I shake my head, whatever, that's for later, it isn't important right now, time for the play, my audience is quite excited for it too... acting, don't fail me now.

"Where is the Queen?" Hans asks while the others look around the place, after a few seconds noticing the wall to the side having a hole in it.

"She escaped?" One of the goons asked no one in particular.

"Did she? I don't know, maybe that hole was there for decor, who knows these days..." I say innocently, bringing their attention back to me.

One of the crossbow-wielding goons, annoyed by my 'literal' first words, starts stepping closer to me.

"Uh-uh-uh, stopping is highly advisable" I sarcastically say, grinning while I twirl my index finger from side to side.

Narrator POV:

Hans holds one hand out, stopping the man from continuing. He cautiously looks around the place to see if there's anything even remotely dangerous setup, but he sees no traps, nothing, but the girl. He doesn't take a long time to order the men under him, because for now, Elsa is still the priority.

"You two" Hans points to two of his men "Go outside, check around the palace to see if you can find the Queen if she isn't visible anymore, then wait for us near the horses"

"You two, go back to Arendelle, maybe princess Anna showed up, it doesn't seem like she's here" Hans then turns behind to command the other two knights.

The 4 men nod and go back through the now broken wall of ice, climbing down the stairs. Out of Diana's vision.

"Now, then. who are you? Why are you here? And lastly, why are you bleeding?" Hans asks Diana.

"Well, I am an evil greater than anybody else has ever known, I am here to get the Queen to be one of my followers... Oh and the bleeding... More precisely, blood is my power. You see, if anybody touches it, even a tiny drop of it. They will be cursed and will die in one month, there's no cure. Except for me curing it myself. And all that? Thanks to my hair, to some? It's a curse, to me? It's a blessing, it allows me to do anything that I like"

Diana says, all the while trying to stay calm, she knows that she doesn't need to fear Hans, but the two goons are quite trigger-happy, they shot straight at the Queen, who knows what they will try to do to her.

"Ha, you just told us what your power does, you monster, if we don't come near you, we can just shoot you right now with the arrows, you'd be able to do nothing" One of the goons, the one that was stopped by Diana's words and Hans's arm, bellowed out.

"You aren't very bright, are you? That's only one of my abilities and it's also the weakest one" Crimson Rose directs mockingly to the overconfident goon.

The trio of men, including Hans, get more cautious. But ready to attack if they have to.

"If you'd like to find out what happens if you shoot me with an arrow, be my guest, you would just do my job for me... Oh and it would get quite messy"

The goons with the raised crossbows, loudly gulp, still not giving in to the ominous threats.

Hans, yet again, raises his hand in a stop motion, the two goons finally let down their crossbows, no longer aiming at Diana.

"A smart choice, because if I got a bigger injury and more of my blood was outside my body, I could command it to attack you by itself, just like a weapon, but this time there'd be no curse, you'd just die a painful death... And it wouldn't be quick... In fact..." The girl dawdles mysteriously.

The 3 men see Diana take the ice shard and slice the hand that was hidden behind her back. To the men, that's what they see, but what actually happened, was her 'fake' slashing the already injured hand and for effect splashing the blood towards them that was there previously. The trio steps back slightly.

"Lookie here, I am losing more blood, I wonder what would happen if I sliced some more places, perhaps a leg? Oh, my tongue perhaps? I could spit on you and you'd have a great time, okay, I would be the one having the time of my life, you'd be on the ground, writhing in pain... So, how much blood do you think I need to let out for it to attack you? Want to try it out?"

Diana finishes the question with an evil grin while moving the shard closer to her lips, all for the added effect, for a show, that's most definitely the biggest risk that she has taken.

"No, there's no need for something like that, we didn't come here looking for trouble. We arrived here just for the Queen, this doesn't have to get out of hand" Hans says, backing off slightly.

"Trouble? Perhaps not.., But are you leaving? Yes... definitely, but not alive" Diana says as she steps closer with her hand out in front, making the men see the blood-painted palm. The bloody devil moves closer and closer to them. When they see this, they continue stepping back as fast as Diana was gaining on them... Which was relatively slow... Is this how horror movies do it? Just be a stupid enough act and people will be just as stupid... Just run...

"Ugh, I am done with this little girl," One of the goons says, finally having enough of this freakshow after Diana followed them a little bit.

He steps in front, raising his crossbow again. But he gets stopped by the second goon before he could shot. Making the first one more irritated, so he goes to scream at his partner. Only to pause as he feels his face being touched by a wet and sticky palm, a very bloody palm... He gets startled and jumps back with a shriek, falling to the ground on his butt.

The other two look at the goon with a red handprint on his face with dread filling them, then back at the girl in fear, waiting for something bad to happen.

The girl seeing their faces, especially the man's scared one on the ground, him jumping away with a sound a girl like her would make, finally couldn't keep up with the ridiculousness of this whole situation anymore and just breaks in laughter.

The men stare at her bewildered, did cursing somebody actually make her so happy? How can she laugh like an insane person... She's... a devil is what went on in their minds... Only for that opinion to quickly change as the girl also can't seem to keep her mouth shut.

"Oh, wow, this was hilarious, not only did you, idiots, actually believe everything that I said, but you also got so scared that you fell to the ground after you acted so tough, that was priceless, it was just way too much for me... haaah..." the Girl sighs after her laughter finally resides.

Yet again the men stare at her in befuddlement and confusion, before realizing that none of this was real... They just got played completely.

Hans recovering first starts to speak "You..."

"Hmm?" The red-haired girl tilts her head while letting out a hum.

"Tricked us..." The goon still on the ground, with the red handprint on his face, finishes for Hans.

"Oh, yeah, definitely, it was way too easy, but hey, at least you wasted enough time for the Queen to easily getaway... Oh and we had fun, there's that too"

"You... You... You'll pay for this" The goon angrily shouts and finally shoots the crossbow while still on the ground, which, at the very last second was misdirected by Hans and the arrow flew right above Diana's head.

All four people present stay still for a few moments because of what just happened.

The girl even with fear finally settling in continues to mock the goon, by whistling and saying "I don't think you're smart enough to handle a weapon like a crossbow, you might just need something easier... hm... a book, perhaps?"

The goon turns so red from anger after hearing the mocking tone from this little girl, that it seems like he'd pop any second. The goon finally stands up and tries to move closer to the girl to attack her. But gets stopped by Hans again. Making the man grit his teeth.

"Stop, there's no need for anything else, our job is done here, even if it was a failure. You two, tie her up and let's go back to Arendelle, we will throw her in a cell for now" Hans says, first to the goon that was mad, then commands him and the other one. Both of them nod, but the red-hand-printed goon with extreme disapproval in his expression which Hans ignores.

The girl doesn't fight it as the men grab her forcefully, the girl involuntarily hisses when the man she mocked tightly grips and squeezes her hands, leaving marks and ties her hands together, the second one tying her legs, she gets pushed, almost falling to the ground from the sudden action, but she steadies herself and starts walking to the direction of the exit, then the hard part comes... The multitude of stairs going down.

"Uh... I think you should've waited before tying up my legs, how will I make it down? You're proving your stupidity even further" The Scarlet Angel just can't help herself, but mock them.

All the men just groan in annoyment, making the girl internally ecstatic.

"Seal her mouth, too" Hans adds.

And just like that the girl's barely noticeable smirk was gone, as she was about to reject such a notion, but her mouth was forcefully shut, by a lot of rope, which went around her head, Now her mouth has to taste the disgusting material.

"Oh and carry her down" The men nod with an annoyed look and pick her up. They carry Diana down, slowly and steadily to not slip. But eventually, they make it down to the exit, with a lot of muffled groans from their captive.

The group steps out of the ice castle and goes down the almost broken staircase over the chasm and to their horses that have run further away because of the big snow monster. Once the group gets there, they see the two previously sent knights sent to see if they could find Elsa. They obviously failed.

The goons finally set the girl back on the snowy ground, who only stands, unmoving and in place waiting for somebody to put her on a horse, for there's no way she can do such an activity with tied-up limbs.

"Hey, girlie," The man says, making the girl slowly and with difficulty turn around to face him.

"Night, night" Diana lets out a muffled and confused 'what' before she gets punched right square into the jaw, effectively knocking her out.

Unfortunately for her, it didn't go as she imagined... She might've mocked the scared goon a little bit too much before. Now, she's not only a captive again, she has also blacked out, again...

The goon looks at the slumped-over crimson-haired girl with a shit-eating grin, only to get smacked one back of his head. He turns back around holding one hand on his head.

"Why'd you do that, man?" He asks his partner.

"A better question... Why'd you do that to her, man?"

"Uh... I wanted to?"

"Right... now the journey back to Arendelle won't be as easy and smooth, way to go..."

"Well, she deserved it" The goon answers back.

The second goon looks at him, shakes his head, and starts walking over to Hans, while thinking that the girl might've been right, about his partner being stupid,

"Prince Hans, the girl has fainted, probably due to exhaustion who will hold on to her while we ride back to Arendelle?"

Hans looks at the man, then behind him, seeing the girl sprawled over on the snow, he, obviously doesn't believe that excuse, but he can't be bothered right now, not only did he hasn't seen the Princess, he let the Queen escape and now? They have a bad omen on their hands and for some reason, he also has a bad feeling, like something will go wrong. He shakes it off and finally answers the goon.

"I will, bring her to me, and let's go"

The man nods and turns back to walk back to his partner and the girl that's laying, unconscious, in the snow.

~ End of Chapter 15 ~