Chapter 26: Dark Inside

"ANNA!"

The strawberry blonde haired Princess rushed into the private chamber her older sister has occupied on their trip back to Arendelle. The jolts of the sea rocking the ship back and forth was agonizing and made her sea-sick, she couldn't even imagine how it felt for her older sister.

Swaying a little, she managed to get to the Queen lying on the bed. "Hey, hey, Elsa I'm here… don't worry." She tried to pry her sister's fingernails from gripping the bed sheet under her; she was far too in pain.

"It hurts…" the Queen whimpered; one hand located below the curve of her round abdomen.

Elsa was always being a strong, independent young woman. And Anna hated to see her sister in this condition now. Curse that person who dared to put the poison inside her sister's tea.

"I know, Elsa, I know…" the strawberry blonde haired Princess said reassuringly, holding her sister's hand in hers as she caressed the platinum blonde locks gently. "But we're on our way home, okay? Back to Arendelle. Grand Pabbie will know what to do."

The Queen looked up at her sister with heavy lids. She couldn't really think clearly with all the pain and worry swirling in her head, clouding her mind. But she did hear the mention of their hometown… their birthplace. "Arendelle…"

~O~

"Grand Pabbie!" the blonde mountain man called out as he, Anna, Hans, and Elsa came to the Valley of Living Rocks by his sled. "We need your help!"

Again the Queen, who was being carried bridal style by her husband, let out a shrill scream as another wave of pain tore through her. Her fingers curled up around her husband's shirt, clutching as tightly as she could in desperate need to channel her pain away.

The round rocks scattered around the Valley shook and turned into trolls, the look of horrified evident in their faces as the Queen's body stiffened and she began to convulsed. Hans tried his best to keep his balance as his wife moved uncomfortably in his arms.

The trolls moved and made way for a single rock to roll toward the royal family. As it stopped it turned itself into the troll chief. "Come, I think it would be best for us to talk in private." He gestured the group to follow him to a small hut at the back of the valley. The King placed his wife onto a single bed in there, crouching by the bed as the hut has a low ceiling.

"Grand Pabbie, can you help her?" Kristoff asked as he sat on the ground cross-legged, his wife sat herself beside him.

"Please, Grand Pabbie… you must save my sister."

The wise old troll approached the Queen, taking one of her pale hands in his and looked her directly in the eyes. "Elsa, I can heal you from the poison, but there is another thing."

"What is it?" Hans asked as he inched closer, placing a comforting hand on top of his wife's round belly.

"I sense dark magic inside her body."

"D-dark magic?" Elsa tried to push herself up, only to have her whole body aching and forcing her back down.

"But you can take it away, right?" the King asked, voice full of concern and worry. "Surely someone like you is able to remove the dark magic."

Grand Pabbie nodded solemnly. "I could. But if I remove the dark magic, your child will die."

"W-what? No!" the platinum blonde haired Queen looked frantically at her husband, shaking her head. "No Hans, no… I don't want our child to die!"

The King patted his Queen's hand, trying to calm her down. "Shush, shush… our child will not die, Elsa. Don't worry, we'll figure something out." He turned to the old troll. "How could that even possible?"

"The dark magic is the one keeping the Princess alive." Grand Pabbie explained, "I don't know why or how, but it… protect your child. If the dark magic isn't present, the poison would have killed her the day the Queen was poisoned."

"So what should we do?" Anna asked; she didn't particularly like the idea of her niece having dark magic inside of her. It sounded bad.

"I recommend we remove the poison but keep the… magic force inside of the Princess." Grand Pabbie said, "We will find out how we deal with the magic once the child is born."

Hans looked over at his wife. Her eyes were full of tears as the thought of losing her child mixed with the pain racking in her body. He will do anything for her. Turning back to the old troll, he nodded in serious business manner. "Do it."

The troll nodded and placed a hand on the Queen's sweaty forehead, inhaling deeply as he erased all the poison from her body. Elsa writhed in pain, but other than that she let out no sound, her hands curled into fists as the old Troll pulled out every bits of the poison from her body.

Her body relaxed, her fists loosened, and her eyes fluttered closed just as the Troll pulled his hand away from her forehead.

"Do not worry." Grand Pabbie said as the auburn haired King rushed to his wife's side. "She is just resting. I have taken all of the poison inside her body." he held up a small glass vial, a thick sickening purple liquid was in it. "She will be alright."

The sight of her chest rose and fell steadily along with her calm breathing assured him that his wife was indeed alright. She could sleep peacefully now. He looked at the old Troll and bowed his head gratefully. "Thank you."

"Hans, let's take Elsa back to the castle." The strawberry blonde haired Princess suggested, "She would feel more comfortable there and she also would be safe."

"But what if someone tried to poison her again?" the King questioned, "We can't have her life in danger, she was on verge of dying."

"We can take turns on watching over her." Kristoff suggested, "Keeping an eye on her 24/7 and not to let any food come in contact with her without being tested first."

Hans looked at the husband and wife, partly envious that no one tried to poison Anna, not that he wanted her to be poisoned of course, before letting a tired sigh. "Alright, we'll take her back to the castle."