Chapter 19

A/N: Wow, people are still following this story? That's...surprising. To everyone that's still supporting this fanfic I thank you. Thank you for putting up with the sporadic updating and the long breaks in between chapters. On the bright side school's finally out so I'll have time to update this story much more frequently. Unfortunately...this story is almost over. I'm thinking one more, maybe even two more, chapters left before this story comes to an end. Even so, thank you for reading this far and please stay tuned to see how I actually end this. I hope this chapter was worth the wait.

It was awhile before Elsa had finally come to. The feel of the cold, wooden floor, she realized, had been replaced with the scratchy, unwelcoming feel of Oaken's living room couch. The comfort it usually brought was lost on her. The window above her let in the cold air and luminescent rays of the moon, signaling just how much time had passed.

She sat up slowly and winced at the throbbing pain at the back of her head. It was taking a bit of time for her to recollect her thoughts.

Come on Elsa this shouldn't be that hard to figure out,she said as one of her hands reached around to clutch at the aching pain. Let's see, you got knocked out, you were heading towards the door because...

Elsa gasped as the gears in her head started whirring again. "Anna!" she cried out into the empty room. She was up and off the couch in a flash which admittedly wasn't the best idea as the world started to spin all around her. She grabbed onto the arm of the couch with her free hand and steadied her breathing.

Anna's gone. They took her. Those bastards took her and...and it's all my fault. Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes at that realization that she tried to fight. No, I can't think like that. It doesn't matter whose fault this is, all that matters is that I find her. She pulled the collar of her shirt over her face to wipe the tears, and it was then that she noticed the large, dry stain on her shirt. Though the moonlight obscured the color a little there was no mistaking the unsettling, crimson blot. There was blood on her shirt. And it wasn't hers.

A quick look around the room showed, unfortunately, that the blood wasn't just on her shirt. Foreboding droplets graced the wooden floor, outlining a straight path and then turning left towards a corridor. With extreme caution Elsa followed the bloody trail. Her breathing was slow and steady, but every step caused it and her heart rate to rise. "Hello?" she cried out into the darkness, "Is...anyone there?"

As she rounded the corner she heard a soft groan coming from the only lit room in the house. Her footsteps became slower and smaller. She could heard very faint and labored breathing the closer she got to the slightly open door. That feeling of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach would not go away as she feared what exactly it was she would find once she entered. With a very deep breath she opened the door slowly and her face switched from fear to confusion quite rapidly as she looked around the room.

It matched the all-white theme of the house but there were no quaint pictures of friends or family. No beds, no dressers, no any significant pieces of furniture that classified it as just another bedroom or study or anything. Instead there were monitors displaying different individuals displaying certain abilities. A woman with long, glowing hair graced one of the monitors, she seemed to be singing. Another monitor displayed a familiar face, Jack Frost. He had a disgruntled look on his face as he shot a beam of ice from his staff. The last monitor that she got a good look at showed a little girl and her...dog? Or was it a cat? It was roughly the same size as the little girl and it had these large, cat-like ears. It's eyes were slanted and almost predatory but it's wide mouth that spread from ear to ear seemed to exhibit a strange form of happiness as it embraced the little girl.

In the middle of the room was a large white coffee table that had papers covering the thing from corner to corner. The writing and pictures were discernible and unimportant right now.

The man practically laying at the bottom of the table, however, was important.

Elsa placed her hands over her mouth as a gasp escaped her. Of all the things she was expecting to see once she opened the room, this was the one she was dreading the most. At the foot of the table, the blood pooled all around a large man who struggled with every breath he took. His half-lidded eyes stared off into the distance, as if he had no idea that Elsa had even entered the room.

"Oaken!" Elsa screamed as she ran towards him. He was afraid to even touch the man, thinking that the slightest touch would somehow damage him. "I'm so sorry. This, all this, it's all my fault. I should never have come to you. I should have never gone to your house and put you in this kind of danger. I'm such a fool I...I..."

The man raised a weak hand to cup one of Elsa's heaving shoulders as she cried her eyes out. "Elsa..." he spoke weakly, "It's okay...I'm fine..."

"No!" she wiped the tears from her eyes with one of her sleeves, "No, you're not! I have to help you, I have to do something! Where's the wound, maybe I can..." She searched around until she found the stab wound on his lower right side, placing a hand on it.

"Elsa, please...listen to me...I need...to tell you where..." his chest continued to heave as every word he spoke took more and more out of him.

"I have to apply pressure, right?" she asked desperately, "That's what you have to do when your shot or...or stabbed or...I need to do something, I have to help you. Please let me help you, Oaken. Please I...I need to make this right, I need to-"

A warmth had begun to manifest from Elsa's palm. At first she assumed that it was just the blood emanating from the wound but this warmth seemed different. Her palm ached and the heat began to increase the longer she kept her palm steady.

"Elsa...what are you..."

"I-I'm not sure. I didn't know I could do this I...I think I'm healing you." She took a quick look down at her hand and noticed that...ice was forming all around Oaken's bloody sweater. The silver glowed faintly underneath her hands. Her grip stood strong, but the heat seemed to be much stronger. She couldn't think about that though. Nor could she think about the paradoxical conundrum that was this strangely hot ice. "Just hold on okay, Oaken? I think this can help."

"No, Elsa..." Oaken wheezed, "Listen...I know...where they...are..."

"Well you can tell me once I patch you up, alright? You can tell me everything afterwards. But for now I just need you to save your strength."

"Warehouse...I have...the address...in my hand..." He raised his free hand towards Elsa to give her the address but Elsa would not budge from her position.

"Let's just not think about that right now, alright? Let's talk about something else while I heal you. Let's talk about...this place! What is this place?"

"Elsa, I..." Oaken sighed weakly, "This...is my lab..."

"Your lab? You mean the place where you researched people...like me?"

Oaken nodded.

"That's good Oaken, save your strength. You don't need to talk, I'll just keep asking you questions. All you have to do is nod or shake your head. Don't say anything else." The air of desperation in her voice was increasing every agonizing second. "So...these are the people that Kristoff targeted?"

Oaken nodded once more.

"But there were children on those monitors. They looked so young, so innocent. Oaken did...did he kill them too?"

There was no immediate reply.

"Oaken!" she softened her voice once again, not meaning to shout. "Did...did he kill those children too?"

This time, Oaken nodded.

Elsa was shaking now. Not in fear, or in cowardice, no. She was shaking with rage. "That son of a bitch." Her voice was bitter and scornful and she spit out that last word with utter hatred. "I will find him and I will make sure he paysfor what he's done. He'll pay for every single person he's killed, every family he's destroyed, every life he's ruined. He will pay for what he's done to me, to you, to Anna...he will pay."

"Elsa...no...you can't..."

"Please don't speak Oaken, you need to save your strength until I..." she had to look away so that Oaken wouldn't see the wince that formed on her face. The heat was getting unbearably feirce. It was becoming much harder to keep her hand on the wound.

"You're...hurting..."

Damn, she was hoping that he didn't see the wince. She swallowed, "No no, it's fine. I'm fine. I can get through this, don't worry."

"No...don't do this..."

"I can do this, Oaken. I can help you. I need to help you. I'll heal you, and then I'll find that bastard. And everything will be okay. Everything will be-agh!" The heat was intense now, and a hot flash racked her body with pain.

"Please, Elsa...stop..."

She clutched the healing arm with her free hand, steadying it and forcing herself to stay still. "I can heal you. I have to heal you, alright? You're not gonna...you're not gonna die on me! I'm gonna make this right. Ah!" Another wave of pain shot through her, it felt as if the skin on her hand was being fried. "I can fight through this...I'm going to save you." She bit her lip to muffle another painful cry. The heat was too much, it felt as if she was holding on for dear life. She wanted to scream, shout, cry, but most of all she wanted to take her hand off. It felt as if it was being cooked right down to the bone. Through gritted teeth she pressed on, keeping that damn hand steady. "I...I can save you, Oaken. I'm gonna...I'm gonna sa-"

Suddenly a hand was on her shoulder, forcefully pushing her away. The disconnect between her hand and the wound seemed to occur in slow motion. All her work, all her progress, the last chance that she had to save Oaken and make everything right was gone in an instant. She was pushed a few feet away from Oaken and the glowing silver ice had retreated quickly, as if she had done nothing at all to help him.

"Oaken...why?! Why would you do that?! I could have saved you!" She scrambled over to the man once more and tried to place her hand on the wound again, only to be stopped.

"You...were hurting...I...didn't want you...to..."

"But that wasn't your decision to make! I was gonna bear through the pain! I was strong enough to, you didn't need to do that!"

"Elsa...look at me..."

She knew there was no way that Oaken would let her look at the wound again so it seemed the only thing she could really do was oblige to his request. She looked into his sunken, defeated face, those tired eyes staring compassionately at the blonde. He looked as if he had aged sixty years in such a short time span.

"I...am so proud of you..."

These kinds of words weren't supposed to be spoken unless...Elsa grasped onto one of Oaken's hands, "No no, what are you doing Oaken? Stop saying stuff like this. It sounds like...like you've given up. You can't give up!"

"Listen...to me..." Oaken heaved, "You've...improved...so much. Your mother...and father...would be so...proud. Just...like...me..."

Once again there were tears forming in Elsa's eyes and she had no energy to stop them. Instead she looked down, averting her gaze and letting the drops fall to the floor. "I'm so sorry, Oaken. I wish I could have done more. You didn't deserve any of this, all you wanted to do was help me. And now..." She felt a hand under her chin, lifting her face back up. The solemn look on his face was replaced with this weak smile.

"I...love you...so much...Elsa. You've...been like...a daughter...to me."

Elsa felt an ache in her chest at those words. It was a good ache, one she welcomed due to its context. Daughter. After her parents died she didn't know how much she missed hearing that word. She couldn't believe that anyone else other than Anna could ever love or care for her and now she knew that this wasn't true. She just wished she knew it sooner.

Oaken placed his hand out in front of Elsa and in his palm was a hastily folded piece of paper with writing on it. "The address...find Anna...stop him..."

Her hands were shaking as she grabbed the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. "I will, Oaken. I'll find Anna, I'll take Kristoff down and I will put an end to all this. I can do this."

"I know...you can. You're strong...Elsa. I...I..."

There was an immediate and deafening silence as Elsa noticed that his chest had stopped moving and his eyes had now shut completely. "Oaken?" she called out desparetely, "Oaken?!"

She cradled his face in her hands hoping for some slight sign of life. But after a minute of morbid silence, she finally broke down. Her face was buried into his chest as the tears stained his sweater.

"I'm so sorry..." she repeated. "I'm so so sorry."

There was nothing else she could say as the tears continued to fall. She was alone now...

Or so she thought.

"Ooh, did I get here at a bad time?"

Elsa stiffened after hearing the familiar, she-devil speak. This time though she wouldn't even grace her presence with a verbal response. All she did was grit her teeth.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, alright? At least turn around and look at me!"

She did turn around and stare at the woman that dared to make herself known at this very moment. She picked herself up off the floor and walked towards the woman who still wore that damn funeral dress. She hated how much it actually fit in this scenario.

"Alright that's better, now can you please explain to me what actually-Oof!"

For only the second time, Elsa had struck her counterpart. A cold and unforgiving fist hit her square in the jaw and knocked her right out of the room. Except this time she didn't stop.

As the woman stumbled out of the room and into the hallway, Elsa followed. When she tried to pick herself up she was greeted with a cold blast of ice that caused her to fall backwards.

"Agh! What the hell is your problem?!"

"You, alright?! You're my problem! I wanted to try and coexist with you, to try and sympathize with you and work together!" Elsa released another sharp, blast of ice that caused the woman to retreat even further into the house. There was ice all around them now and it was compeltely ruining the interior but Elsa didn't care. "But now I see that you obviously don't want that! You are a disrespectful little bitch and I am tired of you!"

"Okay seriously, what the hell are you talking about?! I'm sorry if I didn't read the room as well as I should have but this seems pretty unprovoked."

"Unprovoked?! Are you kidding me?! So every single deprecating comment you've ever given me, every lie you've spoken, every insult you've thrown at me, have you just completely forgotten about those?! You are not the victim here! You're a monster!" Elsa brought forth an icicle that flew through the air and connected with the other woman's cheek, causing her to flinch and draw blood.

And suddenly the mood seemed to change as she face forward with a much more vengeful and determined look in her eye.

"That. Is. IT!"

Elsa raised her arms up just in time to form a barrier as a giant block of ice was thrown at her with lightning speed. The shield held but as soon as she put it down she saw the woman rush up to her with a hand completely encapsulated in ice. As she swung the ice fist towards her all she could really conjure up in such a short time was a bit of armor to cover her forearm. The force shattered both conjurations and knocked Elsa down. As she raced to pick herself up a blast of ice exploded dangerously close to her hand. She blindly threw ice behind her to try and slow down her opponent.

"I don't know what's going on with you right now, but I'll be DAMNED if I let you strike me one more time."

This back and forth struggle for control spilled out into the kitchen and they left shattered picture frames and broken furniture in their wake. At some point Elsa had gained the upper hand once more and she siced a controlled blizzard onto her demonic doppelganger that sent her crashing through the patio door and into the backyard.

"You have been nothing but hurtful the entire time we've known each other. You're a parasite, a demon that preys on my misfortune. And if I'm not giving you enough then you will bring it upon yourself to create misery for me. All you do is hurt!"

She created five menacing icicles in quick succession and pointed them at the woman who was still struggling to get up. With throw of her arms forward the icicles lunged at their target who was able to dodge all of them, much to Elsa's dismay. With another thrust of her hand, Elsa formed a blockade of ice that moved fast towards the other woman who struggled to push it away. Elsa kept it moving forward and towards the back of the yard, towards the wall. She was trying to downright flatten her adversary. Unfortunately she had the common sense to sidestep the wall of ice and create another initimidating ball of ice that she threw onto Elsa.

With downright amazing reaction speed, Elsa was able to place her palm down onto the ground, blast herself up in the air in order to dodge the ball and then bring her hand, which she covered ince, down onto the woman below her.

Another sidestep caused Elsa to fumble and for the ice on her hand to shatter. She tumbled to the ground and before she could pick herself up a body had straddled her and one hand was used to keep both her hands above her head. The other hand was covered in its own brand of ice.

"Is THAT what this is about?! This is just you blowing off some steam and getting things off your chest?! Well, let me tell you, you have a V ERY aggressive way of venting out your feelings. Now are you calm now or am I gonna have to knock some sense into you with this?"

She gestured to the hand covered in ice and Elsa squirmed underneath her, looking at the woman above her with pure and utter hatred, "Wow, you're not even going to apologize?! You completely acknowledge everything I said as true but you won't apologize for it?!"

"Will that make you feel better? Will apologizing for all my misdeeds stop this little bout we're having?"

"Yes!" Elsa answered immediately. "No! I mean...I don't know!"

"What do you mean you don't know? Do you want me to apologize or not?"

"Do you want to apologize? If you say that you're sorry will you actually mean it or will you just say it to stop me from kicking your ass some more?"

"I...I don't know how to answer that."

"Of course you don't, you're incapable of feeling any bit of sympathy or empathy now, can you? Even if you say you're sorry you'll never mean it."

"Now that's not true, I can be sincere if I want to-"

"Yeah but you'll never want to now, will you?" Elsa interrupted. "Just...just forget it. How can I expect you to understand what I'm going through, right now? You're a heartless monster who's incapable of any kind of care or compassion...you can't help me..." By now she was drained emotionally as well as physically. She had no more energy to fight or debate this, all she really wanted to do was...well she didn't really know what she wanted to do. Part of her just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry some more, the other part of her wanted to drive down to this address as fast as she could and finish this. But how could she do either in the state she was in?

Her hands were finally free from the tight grip that was holding them down and she felt the body move off of her.

"This isn't ALL about me, is it?"

Elsa sat up and brought her knees to her chest, unable to look the woman in the eyes. The woman in black moved in closer, kneeling just over Elsa and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Look I...I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry for all the times that I've hurt you. Emotionally and physically. I'm sorry for practically ruining your life. I'm sorry for not trying to coexist with you, especially since we're basically one and the same. But that's all in the past now, I know I can't erase everything I've done but the least I can do is be here for you now. Now tell me what happened."

There was something in her voice that Elsa had never heard from her before. It was...different. There was honesty in her voice. Compassion. Kindness? Maybe so. It was enough for Elsa to actually open up to the woman without a single doubt in her mind.

"Kristoff...he found me. He killed Oaken and took Anna. And...I know where they are now and I have to find them. I have to end this for good."

"Then why waste your energy fighting me? If you know where they are then why did you waste your time-"

She stopped talking when Elsa shot a glare in her direction.

"Oh...right...well then, I think it's time we catch this son of a bitch, don't you think?"

After an hour on the road Elsa found herself right in front of a warehouse. The unkept grass and the chipped paint made it seem like there hadn't been a single soul in this vicinity for a very long time. But the beer cans scattered all around the dirt floor had shattered that illusion quickly. There was only one entrance to the warehouse that didn't include the large, garage-door sized entrance that, Elsa noticed, was padlocked.

She steadily made her way towards the front door, eyes focused and alert. Her fists were clenched so tightly that she swore that her fingernails were going to break through her skin at any minute. A part of her should have been skeptical that the address Oaken had left for her had led her to this kind of place but it fit Kristoff's personality so well that she had no doubts he was here. It was gravely misleading, broken and battered on the outside, sick and twisted (she was assuming) on the inside. The door handle wouldn't budge, she noticed, and so she froze the entire door until she heard the crack of the hinges breaking off. A rough shove was enough to knock the entire door down. She stepped over the shattered remains of the door and paced towards the inside of the warehouse.

It was time to end this.