Many Beauty and the Many Beast

by Felicity Collins

  "What are you really trying to say?" Skylynn asked.

  "I guess I didn't just lost track of you, but lost track of myself, too. I mean-… you didn't even want me there when you got shot by an arrow, for God's sake!" he said with his voice trembling as he stood up and walked past her. Hans seemed on the verge of tears, his eyes were watery and his voice had trembled. It was hard to believe my own eyes.

  "I begged Storm not to tell you because I didn't want you to freak out like you did when I got stabbed" she said turning to look at him there was a pause, then a thought seemed to occur to Skylynn's mind "Hans, are you are jealous of me?"

  "I don't like the way I feel about myself anymore, Skylynn!" Hans snapped with watery eyes, catching me off guard with that sentence "I am your mentor, I taught you everything you know and now look at you and look at me. I tried to steal a kingdom and I tried to kill two people. Anna is the sweetest and most innocent girl I've ever met and I manipulated her, I played with her heart, humiliated her by taking advantage of her need of feeling loved and to top it all: I tried to kill her sister! But what did she do? She saved my life today! Then there's Elsa, my other victim, the one with that amazing ice magic gift. She is not just beautiful and powerful; I hear the guards talking from outside, I know what she did with the ministers. I was about to kill a woman, who has all the potential to prove herself to be the greatest ruler Arendelle has ever had. Before striking, I made her believe that she had killed her sister, she- she was devastated! And now that she got the chance to get me out of their lives forever, to get her revenge, she actually allows you to put your neck on the line for me. She has mercy of me, both sisters had mercy of me. I don't deserve this mercy, Sky! I don't' deserve any of this!" he shouted "But while I did all this, with the things I taught you, you earned everything you have, you deserve it. The choices we made are what make us different. This is the greatest difference between us" he said "Do you know why I stopped opening up to you? It's because I feel insecure around you. I feel insecure opening up to my own sister. I know what I did. I screwed up and I don't need someone else judging me for it!"

  "I would never do that!" Skylynn said. Then what I thought was going to be impossible happened. A tear slid down Hans' cheek.

  "I know…" he said covering his face with his hands, wiping away the tear "And I'm sorry if I doubt you it's just…" he took a deep breath "Sky, you are my only family. And …" he paused trying hard not to cry "I- I'm just so scared that one day you'll finally wake up and realize: I don't need my big brother Hans anymore… because you don't… because now, after what I did, I am only something to be ashamed of" he said, ending the sentence with a sad shrug, as another tear slid down his cheek. Skylynn slowly shook her head.

  "No, Hans" she said "I could never think that of you. You are my brother and if it weren't for you, I would have never gotten where I am now. Everything I am, I owe it to your teachings and you don't know how grateful I am to you. I could never be ashamed of you… Maybe deep down, there is some truth in what Elsa told you, perhaps there has always been a little competition. Maybe this is the way it is supposed to be between brother and sister… but we're in this together. You fell off the mountain, now it's my turn to help you get back up" Skylynn paused as Hans' emerald green watery eyes didn't dare to look at her silver ones while she placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly "Next time you're going through something like this, talk to me. You don't need to be afraid of me. Okay?" she said in a gentle voice. Hans nodded and muttered a trembling 'okay' as tears streamed down his face, then Skylynn hugged him as he leaned down and buried his face in her shoulder as he cried.

  I silently closed the door and walked away towards my room, thinking over what I just saw and heard. I wasn't even supposed to listen to this conversation. That was Skylynn alright, but that man... That man wasn't the same I met during the Eternal Winter and during the trial. That was a broken man, who felt alone and abandoned in this world. What he said was the exact opposite of what he told us when in prison. I thought about the way he talked about Anna and I. I wasn't expecting such words to come out of his mouth, such nice things, such positive opinions, it struck me how he had called my powers an amazing ice magic gift. When he spoke about himself, what had been heartbreaking and shocking at the same time was hearing him admit how he truly felt about himself. He felt so bad that he was scared to death that his sister, the only person he identifies as family, would abandon him. So scared that he stopped opening up to the only person who was willing to listen. It… it sounded all too familiar.

  That night was too soon, but it was then that I decided that tomorrow I was going to talk to him. As I thought this over, I got inside my room and saw that Anna was already asleep. I got my nightgown, went to the room's bathroom and changed into my nightwear. Then I quietly tiptoed to Anna's bed, kissed my little sister's forehead and as soon as I was under the covers of my comfy bed, I closed my eyes, but when I was about to go to Dreamland…

  "Elsa" I heard Anna call me flopping on my back

  "Hm?" I mumbled.

  "Elsa, wake up" she answered

  "I am up" I answered and sat up as Anna moved away, only to sit on my bed "Weren't you asleep? What is it?" I asked.

  "I was about to, you sort of woke me up. I wanted to ask you something. Well, actually, I wanted to ask you tomorrow, but I'm just so excited and- it's okay, if you don't want to- I just thought- I mean- I just-"

  "Anna, you're rambling" I said with a smile.

  "Oops! Sorry. I'll just ask you" she said "Look, I know it's kind of early, but..." she paused and asked me the question "Will you walk me down the aisle?" As she asked me, my smile couldn't get any wider.

  "Of course" and as I answered, Anna grinned from ear to ear.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I was sitting in the music room alone playing the piano, lost in thought. After Hans' breakdown, a couple of nights ago, we talked some more. It was finally clear to me why he was behaving in such an aggressive manner with all of us. Others could think that my job was now complete, too bad that it wasn't and not just because of what I did during the trial. When I was first told that Anna had saved his life, I lost count of how many times I thanked her for saving him. Hans had calmed down these last few days, he acted almost mechanically. I knew it was because he was still rather shaken from Anna saving his life and he was still processing everything. I didn't blame him, it was a lot to take in. However, what was concerning me now was not Hans, actually, he was probably a victim in the situation.

  "Moonlight Sonata, First Movement, your favorite" my head snapped up when I heard that voice and stopped playing.

  "Storm" I said meeting his blue eyes. Storm was casually leaning on the doorway of the music room in his red uniform, one hand on his belt, the other on the helm of his sword.

  "You haven't lost your touch" he said walking closer to me.

  "Thank you… I guess" I paused "How are you doing?" Storm shrugged.

  "Not bad. I could get used to Arendelle" I rolled my eyes, lowering them back on the keyboard.

  "Of course you can" I said and went back to playing.

  "But I miss home" he added. I didn't look up to him, but my lips twitched in an ironic side smile.

  "Too bad I can't agree on that with you"

  "I was talking about Drakora" I looked back up to him.

  "In that case then, yes, I can agree" I said. Storm smiled and walked to the piano, placing a hand and leaning on it.

  "What are you thinking about?" he asked "You haven't insulted me yet or tried to make me feel guilty about what happened during the Revolution, although I've just given you the perfect opportunity to do so. Plus, I bet you're trying to either think, or relax, or both"

  "Oh? And what makes you so sure about that?" I challenged.

  "I am sure because every time you were stressed out, angry, or you needed to think over a strategy, you always used to steal Carter's lute, go somewhere quiet and lonely to play it, without singing; you kept the singi
ng for cheering us up or for when we were in the mood for a sing-along"

  "I didn't steal Carter's lute, I borrowed it without having him know. I returned it eventually. But back to the topic, yes, all these things are correct, my dear Storm, but there is something else I do when I need to think or relax or both"

  "Oh, you mean riding Black Beauty? Right. I left that one out" he said with a smirk.

  "Wow, stalker much?"

  "I call it 'Observing-The-Only-Woman-In-The-Army-That-Sneaks-Around- A-Lot'" he countered. I shook my head and went back to playing 'Moonlight Sonata'. "So" Storm continued "What are you thinking about?"

  "Gordon and Herbert" I started "When I confronted them… you don't beat to pulp and make your younger sibling's existence a living hell just because your father would tell you to take him as an example" I said.

  "Well, that is not really nice. My father used to do that with my comrades and I can assure you, it doesn't feel good" he said.

  "Yeah, well. But you don't try to purposely make your younger brother feel like a 'worthless piece of nothing'- quoting Hans- because your father used this not-so-nice method of pushing you to do your best. I mean, they put him under such a psychological pressure to make him to feel the need to prove himself to them and try to take on some suicide mission. For some reason they wanted him dead and the reason they gave me..." I looked at him and shook my head "It doesn't convince me"

  "Envy and jealousy can bring people to do very bad things" Storm said.

  "Yeah, but… to kill your own sibling? It would have made more sense if that happened to August because he is the second in line, or even better, Theodore, but Hans? He's the thirteenth, Theodore is the first in line, he's not married yet and doesn't have kids, or at least not that anyone knows of. If Theodore were in Hans' position it would have made much more sense, but still, it's Hans we're talking about. It isn't logical!"

  "So, basically you think there is something bigger behind the… uhm… 'Arendelle Incident', right?"

  "Right… there is something fishy going on and I need to find out what it is. I just… I can't let Hans go back to that place when his sentence is done, they would only try to finish the job, whatever reason they have"

  "Once your brother's punishment is over, I'll go back to the Isles. Maybe I could try to find out something for you"

  "Thank you for your offer, but I think I'll have to pass" I said. Storm was about to complain, then realization hit him.

  "I get it…" he said.

  "Storm, you left us when we needed you. You put me in an awful position. You turned your back on your people. It's not easy to forgive and forget, you may not have joined Hugh's forces and allies but still, that's called treason"

  "Why did you prevent Landon from exiling me, anyway? Aren't I in the 'Coward Deceivers' category?" he asked. I stopped playing.

  "You are many things, Storm" I started, looking at him straight in the eyes "But you are not a coward. That's the only thing about you I'm sure of" Storm looked at me inquisitively.

  "The only thing you're sure of about me? After a war together? I'm torn, Skylynn. Should I take it as a genuine compliment or as an offensive compliment?"

  "I'd consider it something that makes you feel good and bad at the same time"

  "Someone's undecided. No, wait!" he cut me off before I could reply "You have a plan when you're at the head of others, but on your own…. you make things up as you go" A tiny smile couldn't help but escaped my lips as he quoted me and he smiled back. For a moment it felt like it were yesterday that we were at war together and that we would have some solo missions Landon didn't order and were one step closer to the goal. Landon would usually get mad at us, but since we didn't do any damage and helped instead, everyone would let us off the hook. Landon usually never gave solo missions or special tasks, except if it wasn't for spying around. If there were some strategies that I thought were lacking in something or that weren't actually the best of ideas, if Landon didn't listen to us, Storm and I would leave him out of it and go get what we wanted our way, even if that meant disobeying to the King. Storm would usually complain about it because, well, Landon was the king, but in the end he would always come with me no matter what. Even though we were at war, those were good times. I remember that on one of our last missions together, Storm and I had been blown to hell…

  Flashback

  (A/N: Bold: Drakorian, Italics: English)

  Storm and I were on the same ship. We were attacking one of Hugh's major headquarters sailing up the Black river, known for its deep waters and strong flows. We were sailing the river against the current, since it was the only way to the most exposed part of the headquarters. Unfortunately for us, Hugh had been expecting us. There had been a spy among us. We were almost near the banks where the rebels were supposed to dock, but before we could reach it, there was a loud bang that came from the back of our ship, where the heavy artillery we were transferring was. Storm and I immediately rushed below deck. There was a man standing next to a cannon.

  "What happened here?" I thundered in Drakorian. The man looked at me with wide eyes.

  "You just gave away our position!" Storm added angrily.

  "Captain, First mate! I-I- have no idea what happened. I was in my place and then this just- It just blew up! I think someone sabotaged it" he answered in the same language. Then I saw where he was holding his hands.

  "Plausible enough. What's behind your back?" I inquired. He just shrugged.

  "Nothing"

  "Captain! We're being attacked!" someone shouted from above deck. Storm and I looked at the man one second before he threw two stones at us and ran away.

  "Get him, Storm! You know Landon's orders: no traitors aboard!" I ordered.

  "Aye, aye , Captain!" he replied, unsheathed his dagger and ran after the traitor, while I got back up on deck. We were almost there, but archers on the top of the cliffs that formed most of the river banks were waiting for us and they were shooting us with flaming arrows. My men were trying to fight back, archers firing, trying to protect the sailors. We weren't getting anywhere like this. Then I saw that the next shore, might not have been the one we were supposed to get to, but it was the closest to the forest covering most of the landscape in the area a few feet away. We could hide there. The archers wouldn't have been able to shoot us. A second later, Landon's ship came next to mine.

  "Captain Engel-Westerguard! Send the soldiers below deck, all of them. We're landing on the next shore, there's a forest over there, the archers won't be able to hit us!" Landon shouted as if reading my mind.

  "Aye, aye, King Landon!" I said and rushed to work "Stop firing! Spare the ammo! Everyone below deck except the crew!" I shouted in Drakorian "Soldiers, get ready to dock!" I shouted. In that moment Storm came back up on deck rushing to my side. "First Mate, to the wheel. Get us to that shore over there!"

  "Aye, Captain!" he said and went to the wheel. The boats ahead of us were already docked in front of the shore, the rebels immediately rushing into the woods for protection. Landon's ship was the one in front of us. Suddenly, from the top of the cliffs, soldiers appeared… with cannons. Damn it! was my only thought. They started shooting first at Landon's vessel. The ship was badly damaged, but luckily for us Landon and most of the men made it to the shore alive. Suddenly our ship was hit by a cannon ball as well. The master tree was destroyed. Pieces of wood went flying everywhere.

  "Lower the anchor!" I ordered. A few sailors came to me and helped me put down the anchor. Then I ran to open the doors that would get us below deck "Out of the ship! Out!" I shouted. The soldiers immediately swarmed out and jumped out of the ship to the shore and ran to the woods. Being the First Mate and the Captain, Storm and I were the last to leave the ship. The last soldier had jumped overboard a second before I saw the cannons aiming at us. Storm and I ran to the edge, but before we could jump off, we were hit, not by one, but three cannon balls that threw us into the cold water and destroyed the ship.

  The current was s
trong, we couldn't swim our way to the others, luckily neither of us had hit their head on a rock. Storm was ahead of me, calling my name. The cold water's current pushing us farther away. This river was dangerous and not just for the current and whirlpools that could drown us, but because further away, much further from where we started sailing up the river, there were waterfalls, big and tall waterfalls. The river pushed us near the banks,and both of us immediately tried to grab onto something on the high edge. Storm then suddenly managed to grab onto something, unlike me, but before the current could push me away, Storm grabbed my wrist with his free hand.

  "Sky, climb onto me to get up there and help me up" he shouted. I immediately did as he said. I grabbed his shoulders and while Storm gripped on a thick protruding tree root with both hands. As soon as I let go of his hand, I used his body as a ladder, careful not to push him underwater. As soon as I got out of the water, I immediately grabbed his hand and helped him out. The moment we were out of the water, soaked, we laid on our backs panting. We just need a few seconds to catch our breaths, still holding tight onto each other's hand.

  "Are you alright?" I asked him.

  "Yeah. You?" he replied.

  "I'm good" I answered, but then we remained silent for a moment, still breathing heavily and our hearts beating fast, but sent each other a look. That look caused us to chuckle lightheartedly as the same thought passed through our heads: Landon better give us a promotion, that was one hardcore stunt we just pulled. Storm and I then got back on our feet, looking at our surroundings. It took me a few seconds but then I recognized were we were. We had passed this part of the Black River not too long ago, that meant that we weren't too far back away from the others, but that also meant something else. The moment my eyes met Storm's I realized he had come to my same conclusion.