Another feral shriek made all of the fighting nearly come to a halt. There was another explosion of light as the Angel tried to shoo away her attackers, unseen by human eyes. There was snow and ice in the air both from Elsa's power and the sky itself.

Thanks to the effort of Valka, Hiccup, and their crew, the Danish soldiers were reduced to a mess of snow-soaked trash. At least for the time being. They'd ordered their warriors to attack the Danes' position from all sides.

The Angel misfired and made a powerful explosion into the cobblestone, knocking some nearly ten feet away from where they stood.

"Don't let her hit the village!" North shouted. Should she become violent, the buildings would be the only cover the humans had.

Tooth knew her babies were doing their best. "They're not meaning for her to! Can they even touch her?"

Sandman would be the one to find that out. When he flew towards the Angel and tried to whip her, his own weapon bounced off the invisible energy shield around her. Whatever chance the guardians thought they had of taking her down was gone.

"We've just got to keep her busy, lead her away, something!" Tooth surmised.

As she spoke, North saw Elsa had finally broken through the front doors of the castle. She froze all of the guards against the walls, her anger knowing no limit.

"Then you and Sandman get to it! I'm going to look for Jack!" He ran after Elsa to the castle.

Tooth couldn't sit by idly anymore. She summoned her dual swords—she hadn't needed them in a long time. Right as Bunnymund appeared behind her for an update, he noticed them.

"...And how long have you had those?"

Tooth didn't answer. Right now, she and Sandy were the only ones who could feasibly get close to the thing. Why did its wings have to be so blinding? Why was it so much more massive up close? Tooth wouldn't let fear cripple her. She zoomed forth slashing. Even if she didn't make a dent, at least she had its focus.

The crowd below began to lose interest in fighting each other and were instead taken aback by what the Hell was happening in the skies. What looked to be blasts of golden sand were striking the creature, making absolutely no sound. The beast was roaring, making the ground shake.

The Danes all asked themselves the same question: how on Earth did Hans believe he could control such a monster?

...

I shouldn't have done that. I should not have done that.

Jack was curled up on the floor, his wounds causing him such pain that he felt paralyzed. He could sense that Hans was getting closer.

For Hans, the hunt didn't taste as good as it usually did. He had allowed himself to be fooled by his own sister. No revenge would erase that shame. But at least he could make sure no one would live to tell the story.

Before he could get too close, Jack inhaled deeply as he grabbed Hans' ankle and yanked him forward so he toppled backward, his head bouncing off the floor. Whether he'd hit it hard enough to crack it open, Jack didn't care. He made a small knife from ice, crawled over Hans' body, and pressed the cold blade to his throat.

Staring into Hans' empty eyes, Jack was just a heartbeat away from cutting him open. For the first time in his life, truly, Jack felt hatred. It was a burning, twisted feeling in his stomach that made him impatient to see the suffering of his foe before him. He had done nothing deserving of mercy and he would know the consequences of harming his children.

"I'll bury you."

The blade pricked Hans' skin.

Unfortunately, luck was on Hans' side. As he came to his senses, he reached out to shove Jack away. When he did, his nails had dug into where the stitches in his chest were and they came undone. At this point, there was so much adrenaline in him that Jack didn't realize he was bleeding. In fact, it was enough blood that it soaked through his shirt and onto Hans' fingers.

Instead of smug and mocking, Hans was baffled. He's already dead, yet he still stands to fight. It didn't matter. Hans would make Jack, the man that couldn't even stand up, regret thinking he was the victor. Hans kept on his calm mask so Jack wouldn't see his rage.

The entire time, they could hear the Angel roaring. Hans thought about using the chime to call her, but what good would that do; she'd take down the castle and him with it.

It was through pure adrenaline alone that Jack clumsily stood and lunged at Hans before he could make a decision. Jack wasn't thinking about the chime—all he could think about was killing Hans. Hans groped again for where Jack's stitches were and when he found it, he dug inside.

Jack screamed. He was pinwheeling through a vortex as he tried to focus on anything but the torture. Blood gushed from not only his chest but also his leg as he forced Hans' back against a wall. He began to freeze Hans' body against it. Through the red eruptions of pain, Jack felt himself reclaiming some of his lost strength. But with every bleat of pain, Jack would lose control and give Hans an opportunity to escape.

Instead of going for where he bled, Hans swung his arm and swiped the frost spirit aside. Hans made a bee-line for the stairs; if this castle was going to collapse, then he sure as well wouldn't be in it. On his way down, he stopped for a moment when he saw Anna's still, fallen body. He had a moment where he almost checked her for signs of life, even debated carrying her out with him, but Hans vaulted over her and left her behind.

...

When Elsa had broken inside the front entrance, she saw all of the Danish guards inside ready to fight. With North, a beast of a man, and dozens of Viking men and women standing behind her, they didn't look so sure about their decision now.

Elsa's hands glowed with her power. "Put your blades away!" She commanded forcefully. Inside, she knew she didn't have any true authority over someone else's men... But she hoped that they were smart enough to listen anyway. Despite all of her contempt, Elsa didn't want any more bloodshed. She just wanted her children and her husband.

No one moved.

Suddenly, one man fell through a hole in the ground. Then another. It became nearly comical as they were tossed in and out of portals and knocking each other over until they were a collective pile of confused, bruised Danes.

Finally, Bunny hopped out and admired his work. "You know, I think we should work with humans more often."

"Princess." North got Elsa's attention. "You go find your family, we'll deal with these little mites." He held out his Lunar sword, which looked sharp enough to slice anyone's head clean off their shoulders.

Elsa wanted to stay behind, but she knew by now that North had this under control. "Search the castle and take Hans' men prisoner. I want all of them in chains!" Elsa ordered the Viking men and women before following North's suggestion.

She speedily slid down the halls until she made it down to the dungeons. She knew her guards were being kept inside. Freezing the lock until it shattered, she swung open the door and she saw each one of her mens' faces light up.

"Your Highness!" Mattias called out. He couldn't believe she'd made it all the way back.

"Elsa!" Cried a female voice.

"Sophie?" Elsa didn't know why she'd be there unless Hans had locked up their family in there with them. The young woman jumped into her arms; they hugged mightily in their relief, but Elsa pulled away quickly, "Where are the kids?"

"I don't know." She confessed. "All I know is Hans has them and our moms locked up somewhere."

"What on earth is going on out there?" Shouted another guard.

Elsa didn't answer; couldn't think about anything else but her children. She said, "Mattias, get everyone out of here!" And bolted for the door, leaving Sophie rather appalled.

They're still here somewhere! Elsa didn't falter. The víkingar were already searching the castle for anyone that might need saving (or an ass-kicking).

"Elsa!"

Elsa wasn't expecting to hear Hiccup's voice. She thought he'd be handling the frontlines.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

"The guards surrendered. None of them think Hans can keep the Angel tame as long as he claims." He said, out of breath. He'd been running everywhere looking for her. "One of the prisoners said one saw him try to sneak out the front, but once he heard you bust your way in, he ran."

Elsa knew it then. "The back doors. Either that or the tunnels. He couldn't have gotten far." She was conflicted. "I'm still worried about Jack. I haven't found him."

Hiccup said, "I'll look for him. You go and see if you can find Hans or your family."

...

Each of the thousands of times Jack had seen the castle halls, it had been a world of scarlet walls lined with paintings and candelabras. Now everything was a mess. Blood on the floor. Ice the wall. Water dripped down from the ceiling. He tried to force himself to stand, but his body wouldn't stop shaking.

Listening to the Angel's moans again, Jack couldn't help but thinking about how pained it sounded. Almost like it just wanted all of this madness to be over already.

He'd recalled something Hiccup had told him. How angry she must be, that there was still some human thought left in her. What if all of this wasn't just primal rage and mind control? What if this was something deeper?

What if she really could think? Maybe that meant that she could feel too.

"Jack!" A deep voice called his name. He was surprised by who it was.

North looked over him along with Bunnymund. "Slava bogu..."

"Mate! How'd this happen?" Bunny shouted, both angry and worried.

North peeled off his thick fur coat to try and clean the blood. Finally, Jack stopped struggling. He croaked, "Where's Elsa?"

"She's all right. She's just gone to make sure your kids are okay."

"Anna snuck them out." Jack was shivering—he wasn't cold, but his body was fighting off shock. "I think they made it to the tunnels."

They both hoped he was right; they hadn't spotted his family, Anna, or Hans anywhere on their way up.

"Jack?" Hiccup's voice alerted them. He cursed to himself when he got close and saw how bad it was. Kneeling down, he took another look at Jack and undid his shirt. Hiccup removed what remained of the gauze to take a look at the reopened wound. It was deep and still bleeding, but not gushing. If he was going to scold him, then do it later he fussed at himself. It looked like North was using pieces of his long coat to cover his chest, but what about his leg?

Jack knew how furious they must all be under their calm masks. "I'm sorry." His apology stunned them. "I had to be here. I couldn't risk not seeing the kids one last time."

Hiccup wiped the sweat from his hairline and continued putting pressure on the wound before covering it back up.

"Did you see Hans?" Asked Bunny.

"I tried to fight him. I don't know where he is now."

"Well you've been here long enough. We're getting you out of here." North said, trying to hoist him up with his arm around his shoulders. He was heavier than he looked and his muscles were wound up like spring locks. Not only that, but North was just that much taller than him.

"Let me." Hiccup took over for him.

A bright light flashed through the window, followed by the Angel's deafening screech. Jack couldn't turn his head to look but from what Elsa saw, it looked like Tooth and Sandy were reaching their limit in keeping the Angel's attention. It managed to grasp Tooth, who was thankfully freed once Sandman blasted a cannonball of sand at the Angel's back.

Nothing even made a dent in it!

"I don't know how much longer they can hold out." Bunny said. "North and I can't do much from the ground."

"And our weapons aren't doing as much as we thought they could." Hiccup said, ruing their uselessness.

We need that stupid chime if we're going to make progress. Jack thought. But then he recalled what he'd been thinking about just before they all showed up. Through his shallow breathing, he asked, "Hiccup, you said the Angel can think, right?"

"Uh... Did I?" What a horrible time to bring this up!

"What are you talking about?" Bunny demanded.

"Elsa's probably gone to look for the kids down the tunnels. One of you take me out the back way and we'll look for Hans there."

"We?" Hiccup and the others chided in unison. "Have you seen the state you're in?" Finished the víkingr.

"Goddammit, I'm the fucking Prince consort and I'm ordering you to help me!" Jack raised his voice, his anger belied the pain he was in. His wounds had been reopened, so who knew how much longer he had before his body shut down or worse? That didn't stop him. "North, Bunny, keep the Angel distracted and I'll deal with Hans."

"Hold up, Mate. Say you destroy the chime, great. That Death-Eater has free will now. Then what?"

Jack didn't know how to explain it, but he had a feeling—just a feeling—that he knew what to do. "I just need you all to trust me. I'm a Guardian too, aren't I?"

And although Hiccup was confused by the statement, it was all he needed to say to convince North and Bunny otherwise.

...

Elsa had never gone through the tunnels all the way to the other side before. She'd braved many things as a child and explored every nook and cranny of the castle, poking around where she shouldn't... but the tunnel always frightened her. Not because it was dark, but because she didn't know how long it would be before she made it to the end and would be safe above ground again.

In her imagination, there were ghosts or draugr lurking about down there and it would keep her up for nights on end worrying if they would make their way up into the castle halls. Now she had far worse to be afraid of.

That coward had probably come dashing through here with his tail between his legs. She should've asked one of her guards to block the entrance in case he hadn't thought to escape this route yet.

The light of her magic scattered pale shadows across the rocky walls. Still, an underground passage near a fjord? Not the most sensible idea considering how much water kept trickling on the top of her head. If it somehow hadn't flooded in the 300 years Arendelle's been around, then she was sure it wouldn't break yet.

The tunnel would deposit her on a small ledge that overlooked the village. She was sure she could scan what was happening from there as well. Even if the Angel destroyed the castle, at least no one would be in it when it happened... she hoped.

Breathing fresh air again, the late-autumn wind tugged at the fabric of her attire and she pulled her bolero jacket tighter. She could still hear the Angel bellowing even from a distance. It was the kind of roar that went into the pit of her stomach.

She was stunned when she finally found where the escapees had gone. Everyone had been dead silent, watching the turmoil as strangers that appeared from nowhere defended their own home. They were gathered at the top of the cliffs over the fjord.

Elsa didn't say anything; she didn't know how to announce her presence. Lucky for her, someone stood up and did so for her. "The Princess is here!"

At that moment, the castle staff and other village citizens came to life, hope renewed. At once they all began to chatter and stand up.

Elsa was, truly, grateful to see them all well... But she could only think of a few people she wanted to see right then.

"Elsa?"

That voice brought her relief like no other. Elsa locked eyes with Iduna and her eyes widened. They scrambled over to each other as fast as they could and then another familiar voice followed.

"It's Mama!"

...

It wasn't hard to hear the chime now. even Tooth and Sandman were deafened by the noise it made. Such a small instrument created a powerful sound that stopped even the Angel in her tracks and everything came to a halt.

The chime was calling to her—an irresistible pull. But she didn't want to follow orders damn it! She wanted to get rid of the pests that had been nipping and poking at her for an hour. She still had no choice and she looked around for the source of the noise.

Nothing Tooth or Sandman could do would distract her now. She covered herself with her wings and in the blink of an eye vanished.

"No!" Tooth cried out, looking all across the darkened sky for her. "Damn it!"

...

There was a dream-like haze over everything. All of his senses were muddled and far from his grasp. But Damn it, Hans had to be somewhere.

"There." Jack groaned. "That door." He pointed to the only one that was left open; the one that would lead down some stone steps and to the shores of the fjord and the fenced-in cemetery. Unless Hans had swam off, he couldn't have gotten far. North, Bunny, and Hiccup were careful as they helped Jack make it down the steps and outside.

None of them had to look very far to know where Hans was. They could hear the chime's toll.

In the centuries North and Bunnymund and the other guardians had been around, none of them had ever heard of such sorcery from the human world, not since Kozmotis Pitchiner first passed away and his family name all but disappeared into history. The Man in the Moon knew a lot of things that he didn't share with them, and he more often than not spoke in riddles. If something so dangerous to mankind had been resting here all along, why weren't they sent to destroy it long ago?

Were they not ready up until this point, or was it not for them to defeat?

Ever since Jack had been reinitiated into Guardianhood, North had been asking himself if that was the plan all along. Did the Man in the Moon know from the moment he birthed the sweet guardian child 700 years ago that he would kill him while he was still innocent? If so, why was it ever necessary? Why was it necessary for his Guardian of Love to be suffering so now?

As an immortal, the guardians could feel no pain and never feared death. Jack and Elsa had no such luxury.

When he was but a guardian child who had just turned seven in human years, he started asking North questions about Manny and the humans. "Does Manny talk to the humans like he does to us? What does he tell him? Is that how humans know about you and Bunny? How come they're not allowed to see us?"

North hadn't questioned Manny before his surrogate guardian child was killed. All he did since that day was question him, but in silence.

Not Jack. North trusted Jackson, more than he trusted his prime commander for the past millennium. If he thought he needed to see this out for himself, then it must be so.

They found Hans easily. Although he had rung the chime, the Angel had not come to him yet. Hans sensed the presence of another before he turned around and saw their hostile gazes. He noticed Jack somehow still breathing.

"How are you even standing?" He demanded. He looked at the Hiccup, North, and the oversized rabbit that had joined them—at this point, nothing fazed the man. "Who the Hell are all of you?"

"It is over." North was the first to say. "Hand us the chime."

No, this wasn't the end, not for him anyway. "I was going to do you all a quick death, but now that you're out here you leave me no choice."

In the instant he was about to use the chime again, the Angel appeared. Her bright wings nearly blinded all of them and it was hard to focus. Even Hans wasn't immune to its glow.

His own weapon would prove to be his undoing, as Jack used the moment they were all flustered and he clumsily swung his arm to strike Hans with the ice. He was knocked to the ground and, with it, he dropped the chime.

None of them could find while they were blinking away the flashing lights.

"Damn you! Kill them!" Hans didn't care how. He wouldn't let his glory be ruined. North grabbed his arms and held him down.

The Angel moved, reaching first for Jack and Hiccup. Bunny distracted it, throwing one of his boomerangs. Once the Angel spotted him, he disappeared down a hole, warping to and fro to keep her attention while the others scrambled for the chime in their terror.

Hearing the noise, Tooth and Sandman found the group, but they could only do so much to keep it from touching them.

Hiccup worried most about Jack. He couldn't search quickly enough while he was trying to keep him steady.

Despite his fading mind, Jack spotted it first. He wrenched himself out of Hiccup's hold and crawled towards it. He gripped it in its hand and once it froze solid and shattered. That's when everything became silent.

Blood drained from Hans' face when he realized what happened. But it was Jackson who was the idiot—he'd doomed them all!

Still illuminated by her wings, the Angel's gaping maw drew a breath, as if a sigh of relief. At least that's what it sounded like to Jack. While the others were still terrified, Jack held his gaze on the creature's face. The poor, poor creature whose only existence had been nothing but imprisonment—first in a glacier, then to a human's mind control for his own selfish wants.

Turning her head to where she'd heard the noise, the Angel stiffly looked to the one who had broken the spell. She still made ugly, horrifying sounds, but Jack wasn't afraid anymore.

He could hardly breathe.

When Hiccup took the opportunity to try and help Jack, the Angel let out a shriek that could send anyone miles away staggering. As she got closer to Jack, his own heart started to race, not helping his cause. His breath quickened, his wounds bled, but he reminded himself that he wasn't the only victim among them.

"I'm sorry." He said.

Had everyone heard him right? Was he talking to the thing?

The Angel gave no reaction and only stared, light dripping like water off her wings.

"You didn't ask for this... You wanted to be something wonderful and you were tricked." He panted. His voice was raspy and sharp. "You were sent away because you were different. I know what it's like... I didn't want to be born this way. I was alone like you were." The others realized what Jack was doing. "I thought I was a freak and people were afraid of me... But I found love."

The Angel was responsive to that. She lowered closer to the aching being.

"It's okay to be angry at how things turned out... But you can't hurt other people because something bad happened. You have to learn to let go. Then the hurting will stop." Jack almost choked trying to get his words out. He felt as though his lungs were filling with blood.

The Angel descended even more, and letting out a strange noise, she took Jack in her strong, clawed hands. Jack began to breathe heavily, not sure what was about to happen.

"Jack!" North cried.

The Angel did something strange then. After looking Jack straight into his frightened blue eyes, she pressed him close to her face... her wings closed around them.

She was hugging him.

And then, the strangest of all, the Angel's wings went pale, then they became darker... darker... her body sank gradually into the ground as her magnificent wings went flat around her.

She had found acceptance and was no more.

Nestled within her loosened grasp was Jack, who couldn't help noticing the peaceful look on her face. What happened next, Jack would never be sure was real or not. Perhaps it was the loss of blood, but he was certain he could see a pale figure of a woman being embraced by a group of Valkyries.

Then everything went dark.