_Chapter Begins_
Jane sat next to her brother — a somber expression written all over her face.
She was trying her best to comfort him, but it simply wasn't working.
"This is all my fault."
He mumbled quietly as the tears of regret continued to flow down his cheek.
Jane's eyes twitched as she heard that mumble.
She looked to the side, where a photo frame stood lonesomely above the small wooden cabinet.
Her eyes narrowed on the photo, and her hands clenched into fists.
The photo was of two people — both being of similar height.
One was a young man with short brown hair, hazel-colored eyes, and a pale complexion.
He wore a dark blue business suit that was paired with a set of pointy black shoes and glasses.
The man had his right arm wrapped around the other person in the photo, while his left hand was holding a small envelope.
His eyes were full of brightness, as a wide and proud smile was carved onto his face.
Looking at the photo, Jane only had one thought on her mind.
"How... how did this happen?"
The brightness that had been in his eyes was now no more, as he yelped and cried beside her.
The man covered his face with a palm as he continued to sob and mumble under his hoarse breath.
"This is all my fault."
Jane looked at him with pity in her pitch-black eyes.
She was hesitant to speak — but knew that it was necessary to do so.
So, after a few seconds of hesitant silence, she finally spoke.
Her voice was soft and empathetic.
"Hans... it's not your fault."
Then everything went black.
.....
.....
.....
A small grunt left her mouth as her senses came back to her.
She smelled the damp, humid air that danced around her nose. And at the same time, she heard a small drop of water land next to her head.
Her body ached all over, so she did not dare move a muscle.
"W... what happened..."
The last thing she remembered was when her brother had decided to fling both of them up into the sky.
"That idiot..."
There was a pause as she thought back to something.
A frown appeared on her face, and her closed eyelids twitched slightly.
"That dream was strange."
The dream she just had was of her trying to comfort her big brother after the fall of his company.
Dreams were supposed to be very chaotic and also very forgettable, as most people only remember a few details from their dreams.
But her dream was not only very vivid in her mind, it was also very orderly and grounded.
It felt more like a flashback rather than a dream.
Jane's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming toward her.
"Looks like William finally decided to check up on me."
She slowly started to open her eyes.
And as she did — the person that was walking toward her arrived.
"Huh... that's weird."
Her vision was slightly blurry at first, so she couldn't quite make out the person that was hovering above her.
But the blurriness was not what weirded her out.
"I don't see a shadow."
Despite her vision being blurry, she could still see colors and vague shapes.
So she should have been able to see the shadow of the person that was hovering above her.
But she... couldn't.
A shiver ran down her spine as she considered the horrifying possibility that the person looming above her wasn't her big brother.
"My dagger... where is it?"
She moved her hand around the ground — hoping that her dagger would just be lying there next to her.
The only thing she felt was dirt and hard rock. Her dagger was nowhere to be seen.
As she desperately tried to find her dagger, her vision finally began to clear up.
The first thing that met her eyes was the face of the person standing above her.
Her arm, which had been flailing around on the ground, came to a halt.
Her tired eyes widened slightly.
"W... who are you?"
Long blonde hair, magical blue eyes, full red lips, and a polite smile.
That was what met Jane's eyes.
The beautiful girl spoke in an indifferent tone that completely contradicted her polite smile and warm gaze.
"You finally woke up."
Elsa glanced back at the other side of the cave, where William was busy testing his new ability.
"My name is Elsa, and I am a friend of your brother."
Jane's eyes stayed wide, but her breathing slowed down a little.
"My brother's friend?"
Elsa nodded and continued with the same indifferent tone.
"Yeah, I'm on your side, so you shouldn't worry."
The blue-eyed girl turned around and began to slowly walk away from where Jane was lying.
Strangely enough,Jane didn't hear any footsteps as the figure of the lady slowly disappeared.
"Get some rest, Jane. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Those parting words did not give Jane any type of comfort.
What journey was this lady talking about?
And how did she know her name?
Was she really a friend of her brother, William?
"So many questions."
But then it finally happend.
A crushing wave of tiredness washed over her,from seemingly out of nowhere.
Jane slowly started to close her disheveled-looking eyes.
"Maybe that girl was right. I do need some rest."
She couldn't even move most of her body, so any attempt to run away was impossible.
So, to her dismay, the best option for her was to just get some rest and pray that Elsa was an ally and not a foe.
A yawn escaped her mouth as she slowly drifted to sleep.
"...This sucks."
That was her last sentence before she fell asleep.
_Chapter Ends_