WHO: Weiss Schnee & Elsa WHAT: Fear Gas WHEN: Friday WHERE: The gelato shop WARNINGS: Low STATUS: Closed | Completed gdoc
Elsa was working the later shift at the gelato shop. Currently, she was wiping down the counters behind the register, humming to herself. Ever since Ruby was sent home, the place just did not seem nearly as bright or lively. Thankfully, Anna was a lot like Ruby with her cheerful personality and that helped keep the place from feeling too rigid or dark. Still, Elsa knew everyone missed the brunette. Weiss was still dealing with the loss and now with Fred’s brother sent home as well, it was a lot on her friend right now. Elsa wished there was more she could do, but everyone healed at their own pace. All she could do was be there for Weiss while her friend went through the process.
The bell on the door rang and Elsa quickly dropped the towel in the sink and wiped her hands on her apron. She turned, a smile on her face, but before she could say anything, something was sprayed into her face. It blinded Elsa and the blond fell back against the skin, rubbing at her face with her hands. She was vaguely aware of the sound of cackling and the bell ringing again, signaling whoever had entered just left. What just happened?
Blinking, the blurriness cleared, but what was left was terrifying. All around her were Prince Han’s army, but their faces were horribly disfigured with sharp teeth and claws for hands. Elsa screamed and her hands shot out. Her power froze the counter top and started to spread throughout the rest of the store. But it didn’t matter. They just kept coming.
The first week since Ruby had been sent home, Weiss had acted much like her old Ice Princess self. She didn't have much of a reaction and her thoughts at the time had been 'there's nothing I can do about it but to move on. Crying would be a waste of time'. But after awhile it began to hit her and she cried herself to sleep, either alone or with Fred holding her. They were finally starting to plan their wedding and Weiss had wanted to ask Ruby to be her maid of honor. But now that wasn't going to happen.
There were other things she had wanted to do with her best friend, but she couldn't think about that too much. She had a gelato shop to run. She knew Elsa had been helping out a lot and she was grateful for it. She also trusted Elsa and knew she could handle things if Weiss had stepped out. Which she had to to go grab them some lunch.
She'd been gone for about an hour. When she returned, she nearly dropped the food when she saw the scene in front of her. The entire store was covered in ice and Elsa had her hands up. It was clear she had used her powers and it looked like she was defending herself. But from what? There was no one there but the two of them.
She set the food on the nearest table and approached her friend. "Elsa?" she spoke gently. "What's going on?"
In the midst of her hallucination, Elsa was aware of the bell on the store entrance ringing once more. Her head whipped in the direction. Again, she was not truly seeing who or what was around her. Instead of Weiss, she saw a zombified woman with tangled white hair and ghostly pale skin. The voice that reached Elsa’s ears was not gentle, but rather like a witch’s cackle instead.
“Stay away from me!” Elsa sent out another icy blast, this time in Weiss’s direction, before scurrying to the back of the store where the office was. The blond ducked inside and slammed the door and bolted herself inside. But even there, the monsters continued to hunt her. Hans’s face appeared before her eyes, his hands reaching for her, except they were like claws.
Elsa let out another scream and pushed aside the chair. She tucked herself under the desk; a sheet of ice formed in front of her.
Weiss' eyes went wide as ice shot towards her. Luckily, she had quick reflexes and she was able to roll out of the way just in time, the blast hitting the wall where she had been a second earlier and freezing the spot. Weiss turned to Elsa but her friend had already moved and headed towards the office. As she tried to get up, she heard the door click and guessed that Elsa had locked herself inside.
She glanced around the shop and saw it was now covered in ice. She'd have to ask Fred if he could melt it all using a spell, but later. Right now, she was worried about Elsa and confused as to what was causing her to behave this way. She made her way to the office, knocking on the door.
"Elsa," she called out. "Let me in."
Weiss’s voice reached her through the drug-induced haze. It sounded gentle and concerned. Still, Elsa couldn’t make herself move from behind the ice wall. The soldiers were still advancing on her. Their claws slashing at her frozen fortress. Elsa let out another scream and shook her head. She couldn’t move. She just couldn’t. If she did, they would rip her apart.
“I can’t!” She yelled. “I can’t!” If she moved from here, they would destroy her and then they would go after Anna. Anna. It was the first rational thought Elsa had since the substance was sprayed into her face. Anna was in danger and, in turn, so was Weiss. They were both outside and vulnerable to Hans and his zombie army. She had to do something.
Slowly, Elsa raised her hands and the ice barrier in front of the desk disappeared. As she crawled from beneath the desk. The claws grabbed at her clothes and hair, but Elsa pushed on, finally reaching the door. With trembling fingers she unlocked it and opened it a crack. Weiss’s face greeted her…except it didn’t look like Weiss. It looked like a twisted version of her friend. Elsa was so startled that she slammed the door and fell back into the office.
Elsa's voice was muffled through the door and ice, but Weiss was still able to hear her. "What do you mean you can't?" she asked. What the hell was going on? Why was Elsa acting like this, like she'd seen something terrifying? Was this another dome thing? Then it clicked in her head. Someone had mentioned a man was in town and he had some sort of gas that induced fear and panic. Maybe that was what was happening. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do but wait until the gas was out of Elsa's system.
Suddenly the door opened slightly and Weiss saw Elsa. But only for a brief moment as Elsa shut the door just as quickly as she'd opened it. This time, Weiss was able to open and step inside. "Elsa, I know what's happening and I know you're scared. I know you probably can't hear me either, but I'm still going to stay with you until this is all over." She couldn't do much else, other than to just make sure Elsa was safe until the gas wore off. Which would hopefully be sooner rather than later.
Elsa backed into a corner of the office and pulled her knees to her chest. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut. At least she could hear and understand Weiss even as gas assaulted her nervous system and played havoc with her mind. “Okay. Okay.” Elsa muttered. “It has to be over soon, right?” Deep down, Elsa knew Weiss didn’t know the answer. The effects of the gas could last from five minutes to much longer. Elsa was hoping that the fact that she could understand Weiss was a sign it was wearing off.
Minutes passed but for Elsa they felt like hours. Slowly the disfigured faces of Hans and his soldiers faded and Elsa’s heart rate slowed. Her breathing leveled and she was finally able to open her eyes. Blinking, Elsa’s gaze landed on Weiss first. Her friend had stayed with her and for that, Elsa was grateful.
“I think it’s over,” Elsa replied, her voice hoarse from yelling. “I’m sorry, Weiss. I don’t know what came over me.”
For the first time since this whole ordeal began, it seemed as if Elsa could understand what Weiss was saying. But she could tell the blonde was still under the effects of the fear gas. Still, it was a sign that it was starting to disappear. "Yes, soon," Weiss said gently. Hopefully. She hated seeing her friend like this. It was probably worse for Elsa.
She kept herself at a distance for the time being. It seemed as if whenever she got too close, Elsa would shoot ice at her. But she didn't want to leave her alone either, so keeping a safe distance was what she did. When it seemed like Elsa was finally back to herself, Weiss slowly approached, kneeling down in front of her.
"Okay, good," she breathed a sigh of relief. "It's not your fault. I think you got hit by fear gas. I saw someone mentioning it on the network the other day." She wanted to turn whoever was responsible into an icicle, but her main concern right now was Elsa. "Are you okay?"
Weiss slowly approached and knelt in front of Elsa. When her friend confirmed it was the fear gas, Elsa frowned and then nodded. It made sense. What else could have caused Elsa to hallucinate and freeze the whole front of the store? The blond felt foolish for allowing herself to be so easily victimized, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
“I think so,” Elsa replied and pushed herself up. She rested a hand against the wall before she took a few tentative steps towards the door and turned back to Weiss. “I’m still a little shaky, but I should probably dethaw the store.” Thankfully, no customers had been inside when she’d used her powers to try and obliterate Hans’s men.
"Okay, good. I don't know what you were seeing but whatever it is, it sounded horrible." She'd never seen her friend so terrified and in turn, it scared her.
"I think you should go home and rest instead. I can get Fred or maybe George to dethaw all the ice." She almost added Ron but then she remembered at the last second that he wasn't here anymore. But even though Elsa told her she was okay now, Weiss was still worried about her and thought she should take it easy for the rest of the day.
“It wasn’t pleasant.” Even with the effects of the fear gas dissipating, Elsa could still see Hans’s disfigured, grotesque face in her mind. No doubt this would provide fodder for her nightmares for a while.
When Weiss said that the twins could de-thaw the store, Elsa frowned. “Are you sure?” She could tell Weiss was worried about her despite Elsa telling her that she was okay. Elsa knew she just wanted her to be okay, but the blond felt badly about losing control and freezing the store.
"I bet." And as curious as Weiss was and wanted to know what Elsa had seen, she figured it was best not to ask. Elsa had obviously been through a lot and the last thing she needed was to replay it all over again.
"Of course. You just go home and rest," Weiss told her and then added with a slight smile, "I'm ordering you as your boss. And as a concerned friend."
Perhaps, given time, Elsa would feel up to discussing what the horrible visions consisted of, but right now, she was fine with not discussing it. It would take her time to come to terms with what she’d seen.
Elsa didn’t like leaving her friend in a tough spot, but even she had to admit she was exhausted. Reluctantly, the blond relented and nodded her head. “Alright. I’ll just grab my things and go home.” She offered her friend a smile in return.
“Thank you. For staying and for, you know, everything.”
"Good. I'll call Qrow over and he can take you home." She didn't want to send Elsa alone and risk her being attacked by the fear gas again. She’d go herself but, well, she had a frozen gelato shop to deal with.
"Of course," Weiss returned the smile before giving Elsa a hug.