Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "How did Theodore manage to survive with twelve brothers? That's too many brothers!" Elsa said holding a giggle.

  "That is a lot of brothers, isn't it?" I said with a chuckle making her laugh slightly as well.

  "Yeah, one sister is a lot of work. I can't even imagine twelve brothers"

  "Go tell that to Hans, I'm sure he'd agree with you" I said.

  "You were a handful of work like Anna?"

  "I am a handful of work like Anna… now"

  "Now?" she said raising an eyebrow.

  "I was much worse than Anna when I was a kid" I said holding back a smile "I was like Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My mom is a teacher, so she knows how to handle kids, plus, she used to teach to 12 out of 13 of my half-brothers when she worked in the palace, before… Albert kicked us out. Anyway, my mom's parenting is like this: you ask her if you can do something, she tells you the consequences of that something and then it's up to you to decide. This is her way to teach you how to think. When it's about behavior, though, she's strict… very strict… in another life she would have made the perfect admiral. I didn't train in the rebel army, I was home-trained"

  "Oh my God! That strict?" she said with a laugh.

  "Only with etiquette, for the rest she's the sweetest and best mom ever" I said smiling "Anyway, basically when I was around my mom I was a sweet little angel, when I was out with Hans though…"

  "… this thing emerged"

  "Exactly. This little devil came out. I was as hyper as Anna and what made it worse was my inability to listen-"

  "-which you still have" I gave her a look and Elsa answered with an innocent smile.

  "I was very short fused"

  "You still are"

  "I'm more in control, now. But basically, I was a little rebel"

  "Well I'm surprised you say your mom is strict on etiquette, because your vocabulary during your little outburst with your brothers wasn't exactly of the greatest elegance" Elsa said.

  "Blame Hans and the other twelve animals for that, they got me into swear words" she shook her head covering her mouth with a hand as she laughed. "Yeah, but… anyway basically I was pretty difficult to manage and Hans was the only one who was patient enough to bear me and my attitude as I grew up" Elsa raised an eyebrow "With thirteen older brothers and twelve of them being complete buttheads, you learn a thing or two"

  "Even when in complete isolation… Anna and I were so close when we were little, but then an… incident happened with my powers… to save her we had the trolls remove her memories of my powers and…" she looked away.

  "…And you isolated yourself not to hurt her again" Elsa gave me a confirming look as if I didn't know already. Stories of the great Thaw had spread like the plague and now it was well known that the queen of Arendelle had isolated herself in order to protect her loved ones and her people from herself. There was one thing I didn't understand, though. "Why didn't you tell her right away? Why didn't you use your powers to learn how to control them?" I asked her.

  "My father told me to hide them until I learned how to" Elsa replied.

  "What?!" I said shocked.

  "Yeah, that's what he told me… Conceal-"

  "Don't feel. Don't let it show" we said in unison Elsa looked at me shocked.

  "How did you know?"

  "Through experience, learning it the hard way…" I said not looking at her, but stopped myself from telling her what I thought about her father's way to 'teach' her how to control her powers "I need to see Hans" I told her suddenly as a thought came to me. She sighed in exasperation.

  "Skylynn, I told you, you can't. Why do you keep asking?"

  "Please? I need to talk to him"

  "Skylynn, I said no"

  "Elsa, please?"

  "You already put your neck on the line for him. I'm not allowing you to go down there so he can manipulate you some more!"

  "Oh, for Christ's sake, Elsa! He asked you to kill him. To freeze him to death, doesn't that tell you something?"

  "It tells me that I don't trust him and I don't trust you" she said, looking sharply at me.

  "Why? Because you know I could manipulate Anna better than he did?" I said with bitter sarcasm. Elsa glared at me intensely.

  "You just dare to try do something to her and-"

  "And what? Get both me and Hans killed before we set one foot out of Arendelle? I may be a good fighter but I'm not invincible. Plus, most of your guards might suck at their job but I haven't brought an army with me"

  "Excuse me? My guards are fine warriors" she said sounding offended by my statement.

  "Really? Take a look at those two over there" I said pointing to the guards guarding our carriage "That buff one is about to fall asleep, while the other one is too busy checking out that girl at the table to do his job. The guards here behind us are pretty much checking you out, or your backside to be more specific-"

  "They're not!" she shouted in a whisper, smacking my arm, as her cheeks became bright red.

  "They are"

  "They're probably just wondering why I'm not wearing one of my usual ice-dresses"

  "Like that's any less checking out the queen's royal behind" Elsa then turned to look at one of the guards and, as predicted, caught him staring.

  "Pig…" she muttered under her breath.

  "Oh, and let's not forget Hans' prison guards. One was definitely day dreaming, the other wasn't even holding his spear properly" I continued.

  "Okay, you win. Can we just, you know, move back to the table over there?" she said glaring at the guards behind us. I stifled a laugh but followed.

  "Anyway, please, may I see him?" I continued.

  "No and that's final" I sighed. It was better not to push her, I was already on her Black List without having her telling me so. "By the way, if my guards are so awful at their job why don't you train them, since you're oh-so-good at it?" she said with sarcasm.

  "It would be my pleasure"

  "Skylynn, I was being sarcastic" she said with a frown.

  "But I wasn't, Elsa" her face changed to incredulousness

  "You're not serious" she said, but realized I actually was "There's no way, I'm letting you train my soldiers!"

  "Oh, right! I keep forgetting. I'm on your Black List so everything I say and do probably is to snatch your throne. But that's too bad, it's a loss for you since I personally train my own soldiers" I said.

  "And it's too bad I don't care and have my good reasons not to allow you to. I bet Anna would agree with me on this" as if on cue in that precise moment Anna came back with Kristoff on her tail

  "Hey! There you are! I've been looking for you" Anna said smiling sitting at the table with us with their drinks in hand.

  "Anna, what do you think about having Skylynn train our soldiers during her stay?" Elsa asked her to prove her point.

  "What?" Anna asked in shock.

  "She believes that our soldiers suck at their job and suggested to train them during her stay. Would you allow her to?"

  "ABSOLUTELY YES!" Anna said happily

  "Exactly- wait- what?!" Elsa said shocked.

  "That's a great idea!" said Kristoff agreed.

  "No, that's a terrible idea!" Elsa complained.

  "Oh, come on, Elsa! What can she do? We're now allies with Drakora, after that little showdown at court she knows that if she tries something it's her funeral, she hasn't broken Hans out of jail yet, so why don't you give her a little trust?" Anna said

  "Exactly" Kristoff said "Plus, she's right. Our soldiers are average and everyone knows that Drakora's army is definitely one of the strongest armies around, if not the strongest"

  "See? That's what I'm telling you" I said. Elsa glared at me.

  "I don't trust you" she said.

  "That is so clear to me"

  "What can I say? You're Hans' sister, he tried to kill us and even though you know, you still plan on defending him. I think I've got my reasons not to trust you"

  "I think it's just because you actually
listen to my mind games and don't really know if I'm bluffing or not" I said lighty tapping my fingers on the table. Elsa eyed me.

  "You enjoy messing with my head, don't you?" she said patiently.

  "I just like mind games"

  "You're just like your brother" she stated in a clear attempt of a jab.

  "I know!" I said with a smirk "I told you I'm a lot like him"

  "Yeah, too much for my likings" Elsa said with a smirk. Kristoff and Anna were just looking amusingly at our bickering, taking small sips of their drinks once in a while.

  "Oh, well, that's too bad. You'll just have to deal with it until you set Hans free" I replied.

  "And, unfortunately, that's going to take a while… a long while" Elsa said taking a sip of Anna's drink as I smirked cockily at her. I'm not going to add anything about the conversation, as during that small exchanged one thing was very clear. Elsa was not going to allow me to speak with my brother, but I needed to do that now, specifically, not with someone out of the cell door telling me that my time for the talk was up.

  People make bad choices when they're mad or scared or stressed. This is what Anna told me the trolls told her. Hans was not a bad person, but I had to figure out why he would attempt regicide. My brother would have never done something like that if there wasn't a reason.

  I had to speak with Hans, with or without Elsa's permission.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The rest of the night went on pretty well –well- actually the next hour went on well, because I left soon after that. Anna and Kristoff are adorable, Kristoff is adorable. He is really nice and you can see from the way he looks at Anna that he loves her very much. He's funny, charming in his own way, easy-going, we get along pretty well. And now it's official: I absolutely adore Anna. How can someone not like her? She's… a dork, but she's so sweet! She's funny, outgoing, friendly, smart, clumsy. She is just so fun to hang out with. As for Elsa…what to say about her?… It's impressive how fast our conversations can change from civil to cold war, to making fun of each other then back to cold war, then me challenging her, then cold war, then civil then cold war. Let's just say that she can be unpredictable sometimes, I don't know how things will turn out between us, we could be the best of friends or the biggest rivals the world has ever seen. Maybe I'm abusing of my hero/queen/ally status and the fact that Anna adores me, but I'm not going to lie: ticking off Elsa is kind of fun. She is a good sport, I give her that.

  As I walked back into the castle, I made sure no one was around and headed towards the dungeons. I was going to see Hans, with or without Elsa's permission. I know I'm pushing it, but he's got to give me some answers. Conceal. Don't feel. Don't let it show. He taught me so and I saw why with my own eyes.

  I walked through the castle corridors and made my way down the dungeon stairs. As I got to the door, I saw the guards guarding Hans' cell in a phenomenal deep slumber ruled by the sound of their snores. 'Fine warriors'? 'Fine warriors' my foot, Queen Elsa…

  I walked to them and took my sword out only to tickle one of the guards' nose, right on his mustache with the tip of my blade. The guard stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up, I tickled him some more and he finally woke up.

  "What?" then he noticed the sword pointed on his face "WHAT THE HELL?!" and he jumped up waking up the other guard. I immediately blocked the hit from both first and second guard disarming them both and pointed my sword at them.

  "Dead" I said as they finally recognized me.

  "Queen Skylynn!" they exclaimed "What's the meaning of this?!" Guard 1 said shocked.

  "A test" I said innocently, putting my sword back in its sheath "A test you two failed" I added severely "You gentlemen have an attempted murderer who almost took over your country in there and you sleep on the job? Is that considered 'guarding'? Not in my world" I scolded, as they picked up their spears, then I went with the magic words "Queen Elsa and Princess Anna wouldn't be too pleased to hear about this now, would they?"

  "No! - No! Please, your Majesty! – Don't tell them! We're so sorry!" they said panicked "Please! We have families to take care of! - We can't lose our job!" they pleaded

  "Okay, fine... I won't tell them" I said they were about to thank me but I cut them off "IF you let me speak to the prisoner" I said.

  "But, Queen Skylynn, Queen Elsa specifically told us not to let you-"

  "-She also specifically told you to keep an eye on him by staying awake, didn't she?" I said glaring at them.

  "Sorry, your Majesty, but we can't let you in" said Guard 2.

  "Okay, fine" I said taking slow steps away from the cell "Good luck finding a new job" I added with a sweet smile.

  "NO! Queen Skylynn wait!" they called. I stopped turning around slowly.

  "Yes, sirs?"

  "Fine, we'll let you in" they said with a resigned huff and opened the door for me. I smirked and walked back to the cell.

  "Thank you, gentlemen" I said, took one of the lanterns hanging on the wall and got inside the cell closing the door behind me. As I got inside the room, I placed the lantern next to Hans's bunk. He was laying on his side with his eyes open, clearly not asleep.

  "Sometimes I wish I never taught you not to give up" he said turning his head towards me.

  "Most of the times, I'm thankful you did" I said crossing my arms.

  "What is it now?" he said in an annoyed manner getting off the bunk and walking towards the window. As he did so, I noticed how he kept his back slightly bent forward and a faint pained expression on his face "If you're here because you think I didn't mean any of the things I said-"

  "-yeah, yeah… you meant all of it" I said sarcastically "How long is this show going to last?"

  "No show was ever done"

  "Yeah, right… and I'm the Wicked Witch of the West" I answered. Hans softly chuckled but then coughed and cleared his throat "Are you okay?" I asked.

  "I have probably caught a cold, not that I'm surprised after yours and the Snow Queen's last visit" he answered "What do you want?" he snapped again.

  "An answer" I said "Why did you do this? What have Elsa and Anna ever done to you to deserve being almost killed?"

  "They? Nothing. Anna was just my ticket to get into Arendelle's royal family and Elsa was in my way. As simple as that. Plus it would have been a benefit to everyone if she was dead, an ice witch less"

  "Stop hiding. I've heard the story. I was in court. But I know you and you aren't capable of something like that, in fact, you failed. If you were capable of it, you would have succeeded" I paused "Hans, why won't you let me help you?"

  "I don't want any help. There is nothing anyone can do to help! With what you did in court, you didn't help me you helped Elsa keep her authority and power" he coughed again and that pained look came back.

  "One solution to two problems"

  "Go away, Skylynn. I don't need you" he said coldly. Those words stung at first, but I knew he said that to make me go away and leave him. But why? This I don't understand! "I don't need your 'love' and I most certainly don't need you. You're just a waste of my time now. You want to know why I don't need you? Because my brothers are right: you are a disgrace to our family. You are worth nothing. Your fame is just thanks to Landon and Storm who always had your back and saved your ass in battle! Gordon, Herbert, Brad, August and the others treat you like trash because bastard children like you are trash. God, Skylynn! Landon understood this immediately, he is cleverer than you and he's dead!" he said with poison. The last one was a low blow and it hurt, but I let him insult me, I didn't care, I knew he didn't mean it, but there was anger in those words, in his voice. He said it with fury and real poison like if he wanted to hurt me. Hans coughed again and got back to talking. "All those beatings were well deserved. What kind of warrior would have you been if you couldn't even defend yourself from them? They were preparing us. We Westerguards are warriors, we're Admirals, we fight back. I trained you to train myself, not to waste my time with you! What kind of man would I be, if I couldn't even def
end myself?"

  "Oh, please! You talk like you actually care about what they…" I trailed off as realization hit me. I connected the dots. How could I have been so stupid?! Of course! That's why Hans tried to take over Arendelle! Hans noticed my expression. He knew I had figured it out "You did this because of them" I said as the bitter realization dawned on me.

  "Leave" he said as his cold voice slightly trembled "Now" he added.

  "Why didn't you tell me right away? I could have done something!" I said.

  "Go away, Skylynn" he said. Before I could say something I noticed how paled he looked. Color had drained from his face, sweat starting to form on his forehead.

  "Hans-"

  "-Get out, Skylynn, or I'll make you"

  "You'd never hurt me"

  "After all I said?" he paused and gulped hard as he stared at me coldly in the eyes "Try me" I did as he asked. I took my sword out and threw it on the ground in front of him. He looked at me shocked.

  "Do it" I said challenging him. Hans blinked once, and shook his head. Something was wrong. Then he knelt down, trying to keep his back in its slightly bent position, took the sword and got back up staring at me. He wasn't going to hurt me, he was just going to try and scare me. In fact, he raised the sword holding back a yelp of pain as he did so.

  "You asked for it" he said holding the sword with his hands slightly trembling. Something was definitely wrong. He wouldn't let his hands tremble. Then he made a quick jump forward and swung the sword a few inches from my face to scare me. I wouldn't have budged, if it wasn't for the fact that he had stumbled forward losing his balance and almost hit me in the face for real.

  "Hans, are you alright?" I asked concerned and took a step forward only to be stopped by my sword pointed at my throat.

  "Don't!" he shouted "Stay away from me or I swear I'm going to impale you with your own sword!" he threatened, but coughed immediately after that.

  "Hans, calm down. It's alright" I said trying to sooth him. He walked backwards towards the cell corner behind him, lowering the sword as he pinched the bridge of his nose, passing his thumb and index on his eyes and blinking a couple of times. While he was distracted, I took a couple of steps towards him. "Hans, lower the sword and calm down. It's okay. I'm right here" Wrong words. I'm an idiot.